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 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

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

Heritage organisations to share innovative solutions to workforce challenges

The third phase of our Heritage Innovation Fund is supporting projects across the UK to roll out creative new ways of working.

05/12/2024

A National Lottery scratchcard held in front of a large building with classical architecture and lawn

News

Sign up your project for National Lottery Open Week 2025

It’s a great way to acknowledge your Heritage Fund grant, reach new audiences and benefit from a UK-wide PR campaign.

26/11/2024

Supporting diversity, equity and inclusion in the great outdoors. Photo: Wayfinding project.

Stories

Inclusion, access and participation: eight ways to improve your project’s reach and impact

Find out how projects we’ve funded are finding creative ways to open up heritage, involve audiences and create better opportunities to take part.

A woman in a purple jacket holding a Scotland international football cap with the name Janie Houghton embroidered on the peak

Janie Houghton with the Scotland cap she waited 50 years for.

Projects

Football For All! Celebrating 600 years of football in Scotland

24/10/2024

The three-year-long project is sharing more of the Scottish Football Museum's collection and creating new resources and displays on Scotland's football history.

26/07/2022

A group of people outside a heritage building featuring a clock tower at Hopetown Darlington.

Staff from Darlington Borough Council and Hopetown.Darlington at the new visitor attraction. Photo: Ellen Hunter.

Projects

Hopetown: celebrating the North East’s railway heritage

A state-of-the-art visitor attraction and community engagement scheme celebrates the historic Stockton and Darlington railway line.

02/12/2021

An artist's impression of a building with glass walls and a low wooden roof, with the words 'staffordshire history centre' on the side of the building

The extension will provide space for exhibitions and activities with storage space for 55 years of future collections. Image: Staffordshire County Council.

Projects

A new hub for sharing Staffordshire’s history

Thanks to £4.8million in National Lottery funding, Staffordshire History Centre will provide state of the art archive facilities for communities.

03/09/2019

Three black people take part in a workshop on black history. All three people have dark skin of various shades, the focus of the image is a woman holding a magazine with black people on the cover

A Rebel Curators workshop at M Shed in October 2024. Andreann Asibey (left), Jazz Thompson (middle) and Bandele Iyapo (right). Photo: Julz Davis.

Blogs

Rebel Curators: reclaiming narratives of slavery at Bristol’s M-Shed

Co-creation with the African-Caribbean community, made possible with £70,000 in National Lottery funding, is another step towards including their perspectives in telling Bristol’s history.

28/10/2024

A large pile of silver coins on a black background

News

Major Norman Conquest coin hoard secured for the UK

The Chew Valley Hoard, which at £4.3million is the highest valued treasure find on record, has been acquired by the South West Heritage Trust thanks to National Lottery funding.

22/10/2024