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

Projects

A Sense of the Past: a Social History of Blindness in Northern Ireland

A Sense of the Past researched and recorded the first social history of blindness in Northern Ireland, covering the period from the 1800 to the present day.

03/10/2011

Volunteers at the Ice Age hunting site Farndon Fields

Projects

Farndon Fields Palaeolithic Project

FARI archaeology, a constituted community group, applied for this grant to investigate, record, and protect an internationally important Ice Age hunting site.

30/11/2011

Young people learn a traditional dance in costume

Projects

Young people shape world stories gallery at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery

Young people collaborated with staff at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery to create a new permanent world art gallery.

18/04/2011

Children in a Manchester Museum classroom

Projects

Nature and Me

The Nature and Me project aimed to create new education and participation opportunities focused on biodiversity and the natural world.

29/03/2011

Gweithdy yn Sain Ffagan Amgueddfa Werin Cymru

Bydd oriel a gweithdy creadigol newydd sbon yn rhoi cyfle i ymwelwyr brofi hanes Cymru drostynt eu hunain.

News

Doors reopen at St Fagans after multimillion-pound redevelopment

St Fagans National Museum of History is celebrating the completion of a massive redevelopment project funded by the National Lottery.

18/10/2018

David Anderson, Cyfarwyddwr Cyffredinol Amgueddfa Cymru

Blogs

What heritage means to me: David Anderson

In celebration of St Fagans National Museum of History and the largest grant ever given by the HLF in Wales, here’s the Museum’s Director General sharing with us what heritage means to him.

27/09/2018

Prosiect sy’n arddangos cerddoriaeth roc ac indi Casnewydd yn dathlu hanes chwedlonol cerddoriaeth y ddinas

Roedd y clwb yn rhan allweddol o feithrin talent Cymreig fel y Super Furry Animals.

News

National Lottery funding is music to Newport’s ears

A project showcasing Newport’s rock and indie music will celebrate the city’s legendary music history thanks to £58,400 of National Lottery funding.

05/09/2018

Giuseppe Rabaiotti a'r peiriant coffi yng Nghaffi Talbot (1950au, Port Talbot)

News

Learn about Wales’s Italian café culture at St Fagans – and enjoy a drink on us!

St Fagans National Museum of History near Cardiff is counting down the days until the most significant redevelopment in its history – and the largest grant ever given by HLF in Wales (£12.5 million) – is complete. Celebrating Italian culture in Wales Staff are putting the finishing touches to the

30/08/2018

Bydd Amgueddfa Llandudno yn ail-ddatblygu eu cyfleusterau

News

Double celebration for two North Wales museums thanks to the National Lottery

Two museums in North Wales are celebrating this week, having secured over £1.1million from the National Lottery to redevelop their facilities and make them better places to visit.

20/07/2018

Bydd neuadd yn Sefydliad Mwyngloddio, yn cael ei adnewyddu

News

Mining Institute hits gold

A total of £8.6million in National Lottery grants will preserve UK’s industrial heritage, from Newcastle’s Mining Institute to Sherwood Forest’s industrial past

09/07/2018

Gweithdy yn Sain Ffagan

News

Wales’s most popular heritage attraction turns 70

Thanks to National Lottery players, St Fagans National Museum of History near Cardiff in South Wales is currently undergoing the most significant redevelopment in its history, having received £12.5million; the largest grant ever given by HLF in Wales. Now entering the final stages of its innovative

01/07/2018

Ros a Richard Bellamy yn cynorthwyo wrth gwblhau arddangosfa newydd.

Ros a Richard yn paratoi Sain Ffagan ar gyfer y dyfodol

News

Getting up close and personal with Welsh history at St Fagans

During a recent visit to St Fagans National Museum of History, HLF Chief Executive Ros Kerslake and the Head of HLF in Wales, Richard Bellamy, helped put some finishing touches to a new display.

01/06/2018

Museums, libraries and archives

Museums, libraries and archives

What do we support?

Project ideas

How to get funding

Keep up-to-date

Sign up to our newsletter and never miss out on another story!