Museums, libraries and archives

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.

Projects
The William Morris Gallery Development Project
The 18th-century, Grade II* listed building has been completely refurbished, revealing many of the original Georgian features for the first time.

Projects
Restoration Bonded Stores
After closing its doors to the public and putting its collection into storage, funding from Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Welsh Government enabled the trust to restore this historic building.

Projects
Redeveloping the site at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth
Funding was awarded to improve the visitor facilities and storage conditions at Fort Nelson, a 19-acre Victorian gun fort, overlooking Portsmouth Harbour.

Projects
Rock Band: the UK's geological heritage
Five museums and heritage organisations in the south east of England found new ways to engage audiences with their geological collections.

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.

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.

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.

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

News
Doors reopen at St Fagans after multimillion-pound redevelopment

Blogs
What heritage means to me: David Anderson

News
National Lottery funding is music to Newport’s ears

News