Museums, libraries and archives

Museums, libraries and archives tell the stories of our cultural heritage.

Through objects, collections, film, documents and oral histories they help to give us a sense of place and identity.

Thanks to National Lottery players, since 1994 we have awarded £2.5billion to 6,000 museum, library, archive and collection-based projects across the UK. See stories from projects we've funded below.

We provide grants for heritage projects from £10,000–£10million to ensure that heritage is valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.

What do we support?

Our funding supports institutions large and small, including:

national and local authority museums, libraries and archives
historic libraries
community archives
institutions with heritage collections

Project ideas

Our funding could help people:

create exciting new exhibition and learning spaces
attract more diverse audiences
interpret and open up acquisitions
develop collections

For more inspiration, see the stories below or browse projects we've funded.

How to get funding

Our National Lottery Heritage Grants programme is open for applications.

Find out more and apply

Two young visitors explore the Florence Nightingale Museum, meeting a member of museum staff dressed as Florence in Victorian nurses attire.

Visitors at Florence Nightingale Museum, which is offering free entry as part of the week.

News

Special offers and free entry to heritage attractions this spring

National Lottery Open Week is running from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 March 2025, with hundreds of heritage venues getting involved.

11/03/2025

The historic buildings at the Berwick Barracks site on a sunny day

The project will reconnect the historic landmark with the local community and create a new visitor experience. Photo: The Living Barracks.

Projects

Berwick Barracks: The Living Barracks

This project will transform the Grade I listed historic landmark into a thriving cultural hub and visitor destination.

14/09/2022

Four people stand in front of a train engine and hold a progress pride flag

Joanna Jarvis , Imogen Watmore, Ashlynn Hudson-Welburn and Harvey Barker holding Pride banner in front of HST loco in Great Hall, National Railway Museum, (NRM) York. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.

Stories

Mind the gap: uncovering missing stories from railway history

People, Pride and Progress is recording the experiences of LGBTQ+ workers to explore unheard perspectives on railway heritage.

Maps, photos and records from Rotherham's community archives. Credit: Rotherham Archives and Local Studies.

News

Vital funding awarded to unlock archive stories from across the UK

The first round of Archives Revealed grants has given a total of £675,000 to 13 projects, stretching from Edinburgh to Belfast and Rotherham to Brighton.

24/02/2025

Richard Kennedy stands in a living room in front of paintings and a bookshelf

Richard Kennedy was a founding member of Cara-Friend. Credit: Timothy O’Connell.

Projects

Founding Cara-Friend: Preserving At Risk LGBTQIA+ Heritage

18/02/2025

An exhibition and interviews celebrate the trailblazing founders and volunteers of Northern Ireland’s oldest LGBTQ+ charity.

30/09/2024

Arthur Berry, wearing a flat cap and holding a script, talks with the cast of one of his plays at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke.

Arthur and cast at the New Vic Theatre by Horace Wetton (1986). Credit: Victoria Theatre Archive.

Projects

Stoke-on-Trent to celebrate centenary of local cultural icon Arthur Berry

07/02/2025

Our funding will shine a spotlight on Arthur Berry – poet, painter, playwright, teacher and broadcaster – during a special year for his home city of Stoke-on-Trent.

15/08/2024

Leaders of the project pose for a group photo

From left to right: Scott Cuthbertson, Director of The Rainbow Project, Mukesh Sharma, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Northern Ireland NI Committee Chair, Cara McCann, Director of HERe NI and Adam Murray, Community Development Manager at Cara-Friend.

Projects

Creating Northern Ireland’s LGBTQ+ heritage archive

A collaborative effort will record and share Northern Ireland’s modern LGBTQ+ history.

06/09/2022

Three young people making a film, one person is holding a microphone, another a clapperboard, and one person is waiting to be interviewed

Young people making a film as part of the I Me Us Boundless project. Photo: Pride In North Cumbria.

Projects

I Me Us Boundless: sharing stories of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in Cumbria

Through the collection of stories, this project will document the lived experiences of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in Cumbria.

12/01/2023

A suspended skeleton of a sea dinosaur hangs in the centre of a museum gallery. A number of people are chatting and looking at exhibits

Visitors in the main gallery of The Hunterian Museum. Image: The Hunterian/Glasgow University.

Projects

Unlocking the Potential of The Hunterian: The Changing Museum

People will be at the heart of plans for the future of Scotland's oldest public museum.

25/09/2024

People looking at display cases in a mezzanine gallery.

Manchester Museum’s experimental Top Floor supports collective action in response to the climate and ecological crises. Credit: Manchester Museum.

News

Enter the Sustainable Project of the Year award 2025

We’re proud to sponsor the sustainability prize at the Museums + Heritage awards, celebrating outstanding projects and exhibitions that are addressing the climate crisis.

20/11/2024

A person at an archaeological dig site holds up a piece of stone which has been excavated

DigVentures will engage 4,000 participants to help map archaeological sites and ecological habits in the third phase of its Heritage Innovation Fund project.

News