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.

Find out more and apply

A cap embroidered with a Welsh dragon and the date 1910

Billy Meredith's cap from the Scotland vs Wales match in 1910. Credit: Wrexham Museum.

Projects

A Museum of Two Halves: Wrexham celebrates football and community heritage

Wrexham’s museum is bringing football heritage back to its historic home in Wales thanks to a £2.7million award.

09/06/2022

Banners and historic photographs inside the Shipbuilders Gallery.

Inside the new shipbuilding gallery which is showcasing the area's rich heritage. Credit: The Dock Museum.

Projects

Sharing Barrow's past, present and future

27/09/2024

The Dock Museum in Barrow-in-Furness has undergone a major refurbishment to celebrate the area’s rich shipbuilding and engineering heritage.

21/06/2018

Two people of Chinese heritage play a drum in a procession, while people in the background hold placards with photos of Chinese relatives

Ancestral Futures by Eelyn Lee and collaborators, commissioned by Dig Where You Stand. Photo: Anh Do.

Stories

How artists can uncover hidden histories and fill gaps in the archives

South Yorkshire project Dig Where You Stand invited creatives to explore the often overlooked and poorly documented evidence of people from diverse ethnic communities across the area's history.

People walk around the exhibits including peace banners and posters

Exhibition and collection items on display in the new building at Salt Mills. Credit: The Peace Museum.

Projects

Bradford’s unique museum exploring peace moves to Saltaire

The Peace Museum has made its collection more accessible in its new permanent home at Salt Mills in Saltaire, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

19/07/2022

Blogs

How to engage young and diverse audiences with your archives

Shjodi Ison shares her experiences of joining a Heritage Fund project as an apprentice, the positive impact of inclusive recruitment and how it has given clarity to her future.

03/09/2024

A group of people are in a studio taking part in a movement and dance workshop

Young people take part in a movement and performance workshop as part of the Catalyser learning programme. Photo: Hunter Gatherer.

Projects

Choreozone: Activating an Archive

Clod Ensemble is celebrating and sharing the lived experience of performance artists, improving access to the collections and inspiring a younger generation.

24/03/2023

A group of school children hold books about life during the second world war and pose around a display related to the second world war

School pupils learned about the Second World War as part of outreach activities at The Hold.

Projects

A state-of-the-art home for the Suffolk Archives collections at The Hold

A flagship heritage building equipped with the latest technology and facilities, The Hold is enabling people to learn more about their heritage.

19/04/2016

A group of people some wearing high-vis jackets stand together in front of a round house made from wood with a thatch roof

Some of the team stand in front of the newly completed roundhouses. Photo: The Scottish Crannog Centre.

Stories

Case study: The Scottish Crannog Centre

The local community and natural environment are central to this sustainable museum, joint winner of Sustainable Project of the Year at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2024.

A rock walled mineshaft illuminated by torchlight stretched into the distance, in the foreground the silhouette of a person wearing a miners helmet and looking along the tunnel

In Lochnell Mine visitors can experience how Wanlockhead's miners worked. Photo: The National Lottery Heritage Fund/Leyla Webbe.

Projects

Lead turns Gold! The Museum of Lead Mining is 50

Situated at the top of the Mennock Pass the museum is a hub for information, equipment and permits for gold panning in the area.

24/04/2024

People looking at display cases in a mezzanine gallery.

Meet the Changemakers event on Manchester Museum Top Floor. Credit: Manchester Museum.

Stories

Case study: Roots and Branches

Joint winners of the Sustainable Project of the Year Award at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2024, Manchester Museum and Museum Development England, share their tips for growing a Carbon Literate museum community.