They fund projects that value, care for and sustain heritage for everyone across the UK, now and in the future.
Heritage can mean different things to different people. It can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations.
This could include:
• Nature: works to improve habitats or conserve species, as well as helping people to connect to nature in their daily lives.
• Designed landscapes: improving and conserving historic landscapes such as public parks, historic gardens and botanical gardens.
• Large-scale rural projects that help improve landscapes for people and nature by, for example, restoring habitats and celebrating the cultural traditions of the land.
• Oral history recordings of people’s stories, memories and songs, as a way of communicating and revealing the past.
• Cultural traditions exploring the history of different cultures through storytelling, or things that you do as part of your community. This could be anything from dance and theatre to food or clothing. It could also include the heritage of languages and dialects.
• Commemorations and celebrations: telling the stories and histories of people, communities, places or events related to specific times and dates.
• Historic buildings, monuments and the historic environment: from houses and mills to caves and gardens. Areas that are connected to history and heritage.
• Community archaeology involves the active participation of volunteers in archaeological activities, everything from investigating, photographing, surveying, excavation and finds processing. Sometimes it is called public archaeology.
• Museums, libraries and archives: making the collections that museums, libraries and archives hold more accessible through new displays, improving public buildings and galleries, or engaging people with interpreting new and existing collections.
• Acquiring new objects: help towards the cost of acquiring one-off objects or collections as part of a collections development policy.
• Industrial, maritime and transport: places and objects linked to our industrial, maritime and transport history
They fund projects that:
• Clearly focus on heritage. This can be national, regional or local heritage of the UK
• Take into account all four investment principles
• Have a clear plan with a defined start, middle and end
• Have not already started
• Can demonstrate the need for National Lottery investment
It is important to plan your project carefully, including costs, timescales and getting support for your project before you start to fill out an application. The guidance below will help you think about what you should include in your project and the costs we can cover.
Their heritage grants can support a broad range of activities and direct project costs, such as:
• Volunteer expenses, new staff posts and training costs
• Capital works, repair, maintenance and conservation
• Professional fees, event costs and activities to strengthen your organisation
• Acquisition of heritage and costs associated with the purchase
• Costs to join Fit for the Future, a UK-wide environmental sustainability network
They cannot cover existing costs or any activity that has taken place before the grant is awarded, or anything that promotes the cause or beliefs of political or faith organisations.
They will not support projects that include installing artificial grass or plants, however specialist play safety surfacing and professional sports surfaces are allowed.
Under this programme, they accept applications from not-for-profit organisations and partnerships led by not-for-profit organisations.
Here are some examples of the types of organisations they can fund:
Organisations need to have a bank account, a governing document, and two or more members that are not related or living at the same address.
If you are unsure whether you are eligible to apply, get in touch with your local team by submitting an Expression of Interest.
