National Lottery Grants for Heritage

Faithful Journeys: Heritage Trail Initiatives

Applicant: Arts and Health LTD

Project description: Working with a group of young people across Westminster to explore the histories of 33 religious buildings throughout the area, creating a heritage trail between them. These will be preserved as virtual reality trails, which will tour around libraries and local faith organisations. 

Decision: Award grant of £9,662

 

British Empire Walks

Applicant: Brick Lane Circle Ltd

Project description: To create a series of heritage walks in places across East London that share links to the British Empire. The project will recruit 10 local individuals from diverse communities, providing training and visits to heritage institutions. Participants will be involved in the production of walking tour packs which will include a map, stops and narratives, all of which will be delivered to the public and celebrated with a final event.

Decision: Award grant of £10,000

#DYC Dennis Morris – This Time

Applicant: Gunnersbury Estate (2026) CIC

Project description: To work with young people in Ealing and Hounslow over a 15-month period. The outcomes will be presented in a touring exhibition around the Home from Home photographic series by Dennis Morris, which captured the lives and stories of the Panjabi community in Southall. 

Decision: Award grant of £79,306

#DYC Sing it Loud, Sing it Queer: Pink Singers @ 40

Applicant: The Pink Singers

Project description: This 10-month project will arrange a series of activities in collaboration with the Bishopsgate Institute, which will be a key project partner and the future holder of the project’s resulting archive. The activities will include 25 podcast interviews and 10 oral history projects with participants from the Pink Singers, Europe’s oldest mixed LGBTQ+ choir. A documentary film will also be produced about the organisation, which will be screened along with other performances at a gala event. 

Decision: Award grant of £94,625

#DYC Migration and religious persecution

Applicant: PLYMOUTH DIOCESAN TRUST

Project description: This project aims to better secure the future of the Catholic Collection held by the Dioceses of Plymouth. An accompanying activities programme will engage a wider range of people in the heritage of the collection, including volunteering and upskilling workshops, collection digitisation, 3D printing replicas of the collection and a permanent exhibition in the cathedral. 

Decision: Award grant of £214,806

50 years on: Museum for a New City

Applicant: Milton Keynes Museum Trust Ltd

Project description: Milton Keynes Museum will work in partnership with Arts & Heritage Alliance MK to explore the heritage of Milton Keynes and collect new stories from a diverse range of voices in the local community. The project will be delivered through community outreach talks, 30 engagement workshops, pop-up exhibitions and a two-day anniversary festival.

Decision: Award grant of £222,850

Creating Organisational Resilience: Towards 2033

Applicant: The Mary Rose Trust

Project description: To deliver five streams of work over 19 months, covering learning and community engagement, future planning, strategic thinking, infrastructure improvements, and environmental sustainability. This organisational resilience will be supported by two new posts: an Administrator and a Community Learning Officer.  It will be delivered through a new five-year business plan, audience evaluation, energy consumption consultations and other quality of work changes for staff members. 

Decision: Award grant of £241,835

#DYC Gloucestershire Archives' GREEN pledge – Getting Records Everywhere Environmentally Noticed

Applicant: Gloucestershire County Council

Project description: To use Gloucestershire's unique environmental archives to explore climate change and drive environmental action by engaging more people with green heritage activities. These proposals will deliver against all three Dynamic Collections campaign priorities of engagement, re-interpretation and collections management.

Decision: Award grant of £246,800

 

Gwen & Norah in Early Years Settings

Applicant: Behind The Lines

Project description: To publish a children's picture book which tells the story of Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney, who were musicians in the 1920s. The book will celebrate their talent and the non-heteronormative ‘fairy tale’ of the same-sex couple. The project will be delivered through 10 visits to Early Years settings and libraries with the book's illustrator, writer and a cellist, to do readings and workshops.

Decision: Reject

Beat the Clock: Honouring 100 years of Social Dancing in England

Applicant: Round in Circles Productions CIC

Project description: To employ innovative ways of celebrating and archiving the cultural history of social and popular dance in England, from 1923 to 2023. It will be delivered over four large-scale events in Margate, London, Norwich and Brighton; a podcast series created in collaboration with local radio broadcasters, and a website to digitise the project and feature five commissioned essays. 

Decision: Reject

The History of Three Rivers

Applicant: Stoke Canon Church of England Primary School and Pre-School

Project description: To encourage a youth demographic to work with members of the local community. Together, they will celebrate the heritage of the area by producing interactive digital records and permanent visual displays of three key events, including the Battle of Clyst St Mary, the anniversary of the Baedeker raids of 1943, and a third incident involving locals during the First World War. A survey will assess the impact of the heritage on the local community, both before and after the project is delivered. 

Decision: Award grant of £10,000

#DYC Crediton Reminiscence Project

Applicant: Libraries Unlimited South West

Project description: To capture stories of Crediton’s cultural past, through a range of oral history and reminiscence activities, and to interpret this through the establishment of dynamic new collections. The collections will comprise of both existing and new content. Volunteers will play a key part in the delivery of the project and in sustaining its outcomes.

Decision: Award grant of £28,857

Going to the Dogs: An Oral History of Wimbledon Greyhound Racing Stadium

Applicant: digital-works

Project description: To gather oral history accounts of Wimbledon's past sporting heritage, working with Wimbledon in Sporting History and 12 new volunteers. Activities will include oral history training workshops, the creation of a website, producing and screening a film and a launch event. All interview and archival materials will be deposited with Bishopsgate Institute, Merton Archives, GRGB and WiSH.

Decision: Reject

Living Well

Applicant: Bonny Downs Community Association

Project description: To record the history of Bonny Downs Community Association in Newsham’s East Ham South, which reaches 25 years in 2023. The oral histories project will span nine months and target older residents who have lived locally for decades, witnessing changes to the area. The resulting work will be presented in an exhibition to celebrate community engagement in the project.  

Decision: Award grant of £65,493

Waterloo Uncovered 2023 Finds Programme & Resilience

Applicant: Waterloo Uncovered

Project description: To work with veterans and serving military personnel experiencing mental health issues, using archaeology to develop skills and support recovery, over the course of one year. Through outreach events, object handling training and research, the project seeks to share the untold stories of Waterloo Battlefield while combatting social isolation and improving wellbeing. 

Decision: Award grant of £77,955

Places of Change: Lodging houses & other spaces in London's Royal Docks, 1855–1948

Applicant: Thames Festival Trust

Project description: To explore and showcase the Royal Dock's migration heritage with a focus on space and community. The project will be delivered through a training programme, research, exhibition, documentary and a series of engagement activities.

Decision: Award grant of £99,602

#DYC From Store to Store: Uncovering Gloucester's Archaeological Treasures

Applicant: Gloucester City Council

Project description: In partnership with Young Gloucester, Gloucester City Council will enhance the use and knowledge of the archaeological collection at the Museum of Gloucester, by temporarily removing it from its overcrowded stores to an empty retail unit in Eastgate Shopping Centre. The project aims to create an archaeological hub and will deliver a programme of events while the museum stores are being enhanced and improved.

Decision: Award grant of £160,000 

A Very British Rhythm

Applicant: Museum of Colour C.I.C.

Project description: Female, global majority and neuro-divergent led organisation Museum of Colour (MoC) will share the heritage of dancers, choreographers and performers of colour in Britain, as well as engage audiences in the heritage of diverse cultural dance forms.

Decision: Award grant of £180,419

Herstmonceux's Heritage: Archiving History, Nature and the Environment

Applicant: Bader College

Project description: To explore the college’s local heritage, bringing LGBTQIA+ histories to the fore through oral histories, exhibitions and new interpretation. The project also aims to enhance, conserve and improve access to its archives as well as focus on the castle grounds to increase local biodiversity.

Decision: Reject

#DYC Disrupting colonial narratives at the American Museum & Gardens

Applicant: American Museum & Gardens

Project description: A three-year project to rethink the narrative and interpretation of the museum, aiming to create a more diverse, accessible and welcoming visit for all. 

Decision: Reject

#DYC Steaming towards Sustainability

Applicant: Kew Bridge Engines Trust & Water Supply Museum (The)

Project description: To explore and reinterpret Kew Bridge Pumping Station and its collection of historic engines and machinery. The project aims to repair and modify the engines, exploring more carbon neutral ways of operating them, and provide opportunities to better engage the local community.

Decision: Award grant of £242,792

The People's Malago – Restoring the natural and industrial heritage of the river at the heart of Bedminster

Applicant: Bristol City Council

Project description: To restore a stretch of the river Malago in Bedminster, South Bristol, to a more natural state, reducing flood risk. The project aims to deliver an engagement programme connecting local people with the industrial and natural heritage of the river.

Decision: Award grant of £248,994

#DYC Digitally Transforming Croydon Archives / London Borough of Culture Legacy

Applicant: Croydon Council

Project description: Through an archive review and digital upgrade, Croydon Archives will enhance their capacity to accommodate digital collections to offer improved services to the local community. In parallel, the project will set up a Young Archivists programme targeting 10 Black and Black British young people, and will offer workshops for skills development to a further 30 young people.

Decision: Award grant of £249,117

 

#DYC Kernow Inclusive Collections

Applicant: Cornwall Museums Partnership

Project description: This project aims to continue the work of the Inclusive Collections Network (ICN) in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (CIoS). It will create a collaborative and needs-led best practice model for museums aiming to increase diversity and inclusion in their approach to collection management and interpretation.  

Decision: Reject

The Backstreet

Applicant: Afterwards

Project description: To open up a unique insight into the world of ‘The Backstreet’. The project aims to make a 20-minute documentary film that will explore the multi-sensory experience of the regulars; the sweat, the heat, creaking of leather and desire.

Decision: Award grant of £9,877

 

Each One, Teach One: The History of Black British History

Applicant: The Young Historians Project

Project description: To explore and showcase Black British History; its influences, significance and key contributing figures. This will be delivered through oral history interviews with 10 to 20 key figures, workshops, interactive material and an online exhibition.

Decision: Reject

St Andrew's Church Bell Restoration

Applicant: Brympton Parochial Church Council

Project description: To carry out urgent repairs to the supporting structure of the ancient 14th and 15th century parish church bells, which have been rung for over 500 years.

Decision: Reject

Community Sail Training on Restored Heritage Vessel

Applicant: Whitstable Maritime

Project description: To provide young people and adults from all sections of the local community with the opportunity for sail training on Whitstable's historic Oyster Yawl, known as 'The Gamecock'.

Decision: Reject

 

Chivelstone Church Restoration and Conservation of Wall Paintings

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Chivelstone

Project description: This project aims to restore early 18th-century paintings found and partially revealed during an investigation on the North and South walls of the Church. This will in turn benefit the local community and visitors to the small Parish, the most southerly in Devon.

Decision: Reject

Nigeria Cultural Festival

Applicant: Nigerian Community Greenwich CIC

Project description: A one-day community-led event organised by Nigerian Community Greenwich (NCG), in partnership with Black Female Entrepreneur (BFEG). This event would be an opportunity for NCG and other African Communities to showcase their rich heritage and culture to the wider public, as well as to celebrate their shared identity and strengthen community bonds.

Decision: Reject

Disability Resource Training

Applicant: East Sussex County Council

Project description: To develop training videos for businesses that have joined i-go (a register and free leisure discount card) to be more accessible to children, young people and their families with additional needs and disabilities. These videos will be training resources for businesses to use with their staff.

Decision: Reject

#DYC Inspiring Change – Building new connections to ZSL's heritage

Applicant: The Zoological Society of London

Project description: To improve conditions and increase access to ZSL’s archive collection. The project aims to digitise the biological archives and make them more accessible through outreach events and improving library space. Learning and training opportunities will be provided through apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities.

Decision: Reject 

Grant increase requests

‘Our Tower’ Discovering and reconnecting Beckford’s Tower and Landscape

Applicant: Beckford Tower Trust

Project description: To widen access, reconnect Beckford’s Tower to its lost landscape and tell the story of William Beckford’s complex and creative life. The project will address conservation and new interpretation needs to significantly widen public engagement.

Decision: Award grant increase of £244,878 to make a total grant of £3,332,178

 

Breaking Waves: A living archive of Thames Ward through the lens of The Great Flood 1953-2023

Applicant: Create London

Project description: To capture and record oral history stories connected to the Creekmouth Village flood. A grant increase will cover full cost recovery for organisational overheads for the duration of the project.

Decision: Award grant increase of £22,615 and grant percentage increase from 73% to 75% to make a total grant of £173,526

 

40 Years of INQUEST – Recording 4 decades of the family voice towards systemic change

Applicant: INQUEST Charitable Trust

Project description: To mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the charity by establishing a physical and digital archive, an oral history project and to widen accessibility to the archive through photography, podcasts and oral recording. A grant increase will cover an additional period of six months to enable the project to retain their project coordinator and complete the approved purposes of the grant.

Decision: Award grant increase of £49,949 to make a total grant of £149,949

 

30 years of Iniva: Collaboration, community and radicality

Applicant: The Institute of International Visual Arts

Project description: To catalogue, conserve and digitise 50% of the archive, celebrating Iniva’s 30th anniversary and the Black Arts Movement of the 1980s.

Decision: Reject

 

Becoming Brent: A Commons for Local History

Applicant: London Borough of Brent

Project description: To use the centenary of the British Empire Exhibition in 2024 to engage with Brent’s diverse communities.

Decision: Reject

 

Worthing Museum and Art Gallery – Let the Light In

Applicant: Adur & Worthing Councils

Project description: To improve the care, management and display of collections at Worthing Museum, with new educational and community outreach programmes.

Decision: Reject

 

Basset Community Hub

Applicant: Camborne Town council

Project description: To conserve and refurbish the White House and Bassett Centre, and provide a heritage exhibition and community spaces.

Decision: Reject