Museums, libraries and archives

Museums, libraries and archives

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

Through preservation, exhibition and community engagement, they can bring collections, places and ideas to life. They help us to understand culture, science and history, and give us a sense of place, identity and community.

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.

What do we support?

We provide grants for heritage projects from £10,000–£10million for projects led by or featuring museums, libraries and archives.

Our funding supports institutions large and small, including:

  • national, local authority and independent museums, libraries and archives
  • historic libraries
  • community archives and oral history collections
  • institutions with heritage collections

Project ideas

Our funding could help people:

  • create exciting new exhibition and learning spaces
  • attract new and more diverse audiences
  • acquire new items and develop collections
  • improve organisational resilience

For more inspiration, see the stories below, browse projects we've funded, or explore our recent Dynamic Collections campaign.

How to get funding

Our National Lottery Heritage Grants programme is open for applications.

A national Welsh flag with rainbow background.
A Welsh flag with rainbow background from the Amgueddfa Cymru–National Museum Wales collection

Projects

Hands on Heritage

The Hands on Heritage project at Amgueddfa Cymru–National Museum Wales’ enabled young people from diverse backgrounds to have an impact on the collections.

Performers in servants' attire at Duckie’s Lady Malcolm’s Servants’ Ball
Duckie’s Lady Malcolm’s Servants’ Ball at Bishopsgate Institute. Credit: Holly Revell

Projects

Re-enacting the 100-year-old Lady Malcolm's Servants' Ball

A collective of performance artists re-enacted Lady Malcolm’s Servants’ Ball; a firm fixture of the queer scene in London almost a century ago.

Museum of Oxford's Queering Spires exhibiton. Display post it notes with comments and memories from visitors.

Stories

Case study: Queering Spires - a history of LGBTIQA+ spaces in Oxford

The organisation The Museum of Oxford is dedicated to telling the story of Oxford and its people. The project The temporary exhibition, Queering Spires aimed to tell the untold stories of hidden queer spaces in the city of Oxford. The local authority-run museum wanted to focus on the principles of a
Four people tending to garden bed

Projects

COVID19: Museum of East Anglian Life

The open-air Museum of East Anglian Life relies on volunteers to care for its 17 historic buildings and three kilometres of woodland and nature trails.

If you query is regarding our application portal, please contact our support team.