The National Lottery Heritage Fund

06/12/2024

As we continue our countdown to Christmas, Day 5 of our takes a look at The Black Country Living Museum - 'Forging Ahead’ redevelopment project 👏

This summer, three new shops set in the 1940s and 1960s were opened:
📍 Langer’s Army and Navy Stores: Meet Herbert Langer, a former German prisoner of war who settled in the Black Country to start his military surplus store in the 950s.
📍 Spring Hill Post Office: A charming slice of history for families to enjoy.
📍 Halesowen & Hasbury Co-op: Travel to 1949 with shelves packed full of iconic Co-op branding with retro products.

These additions were made possible with a £15.75million grant, thanks to players. Stay tuned as we celebrate more projects for our Christmas countdown ⭐

27/11/2024

Calling all National Lottery funded projects 📣

Be part of National Lottery Open Week 2025, taking place 15-23 March. It's a perfect chance to:
💛 Say to players for their support in making your project possible.
🌟 Highlight the work you're doing.
👋 Welcome new audiences - in 2021, 70% of visitors said they'd never been to their venue before!

With over £50billion raised for good causes since 1994, this is your chance to celebrate and showcase the impact of your grant. From free entry and tours to complimentary gifts, there are so many ways to get involved!

Need inspiration? Click the link to see more examples and sign up now 👉 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/news/sign-up-national-lottery-open-week-2025?mtm_campaign=news&mtm_source=facebook&mtm_medium=social&mtm_content=&mtm_group=

20/11/2024

For our final project in the 30 projects for 30 years series, we’re excited to share something that’s looking ahead to the future while restoring the past! 🏛️✨

The Keelmen's Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne was originally built in 1701 as alms houses, but it's been vacant now for 15 years and is on the Heritage at Risk register. Thanks to a £437,732 development round grant, this project will explore how the building can be brought back into long term use by converting it into affordable housing, which is in great demand in the city. The aim is to restore the existing shell of the building and convert the interior into 20 1- and 2-bedroom rental flats.

We’re proud to be part of this project that brings heritage and community together. Thank you to players for helping to make this possible 🙌

Click the link to explore this project on our interactive map 👉 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/30yearsMap?mtm_campaign=news&mtm_source=facebook&mtm_medium=social&mtm_content=&mtm_group=

20/11/2024

Today, we celebrate not just our 30th birthday but also Crossed Finger Selfie Day! 🤞 🎉

Since the first The National Lottery ticket was sold in 1994, we’ve proudly invested £8.6bn into over 47,000 amazing projects across the UK, all thanks to players.

Join in with the celebrations 🙌 Share your Crossed Finger Selfies with us and use .

31/10/2024

We are thrilled to announce a £10million Heritage Fund grant to help save Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare! 🎉 Thanks to players, the at risk Grade II* Listed Victorian gem, which today celebrates 160 years since the laying of its foundation stone, will be restored. This is a vital step towards ambitions to reopen the pier to the public.

The project is led by North Somerset Council in partnership with the RNLI and supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Historic England and the The Birnbeck Regeneration Trust. Together we’re working to bring Birnbeck Pier back to life, supporting the wider regeneration of Weston and enabling RNLI Weston-super-Mare to return life-saving operations to the island.

Read more here 👉 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/news/ps10million-awarded-help-save-birnbeck-pier?mtm_campaign=news&mtm_source=facebook&mtm_medium=paid-social&mtm_content=&mtm_group=

31/10/2024

We’re taking a step back into history with The Revitalisation of Bosworth Battlefield ⚔️ Thanks to a £990,000 grant in 2004, we helped fund a groundbreaking investigation that pinpointed the exact location of the 1485 battlefield where King Richard III was killed.

Historians, archaeologists, scientists, and volunteers teamed up to conduct metal detecting surveys, re-analyse historical sources, and digitally reconstruct the terrain. Their efforts helped identify the true location of the battlefield—on Fenn Lane, a mile southwest of Ambion Hill, the previously believed site. The project also updated the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre’s exhibition, bringing this important piece of history to life for future generations.

Explore this project further 👉 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/30yearsMap?mtm_campaign=news&mtm_source=facebook&mtm_medium=social&mtm_content=&mtm_group=

18/10/2024

The mission of The National Lottery Heritage Fund is to improve lives, strengthen communities, provide financial and in-kind assistance to fund and give grant to UK's Heritage and others who need support financially. Apply today! ✍

13/10/2024

Our grant applications are now open! You can now apply for grants from £10,000 up to £10million. 📢

We’ve changed our application guidance and forms to reflect our new strategy, simplified our materials and made our requirements.

Send a text now and fill a grant application ✍

10/10/2024

And it doesn’t stop there! 👏 We're thrilled to share more details on the additional £30million of funding we’re awarding to amazing heritage projects across the UK. From ports to pearls, these initiatives will inspire and engage local communities, ensuring our heritage is preserved for future generations. Here's a look at some of the new projects we’re supporting:

🏛️ Watford Council Museum & Heritage Service has been awarded £2.4million to relocate the museum to Watford’s Grade II listed Town Hall, creating new public spaces designed to engage local communities and showcase their heritage.

⛪ All Saints Church receives £558k for the conservation of stunning heritage assets like 12th-century stained glass windows and 17th-century monuments.

🏠 Tullie House Museum in Carlisle will receive £4.4million to transform it into a sustainable cultural hub that connects Cumbria with the world.

🙌 Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum: The Synergy Project is receiving £1million to explore the heritage of the local chemical industry and its global impact.

🌲 Whose Hoo has secured £2.9million to conserve landscapes on the Hoo Peninsula, supporting biodiversity with new elm trees and hedgerows.

🌿 Exmoor National Park Pioneers gets £1.2million to sustain Exmoor’s landscape, plant trees, and conserve vulnerable heritage through community digs.

🌊 Downs to the Sea receives £1.6million to restore wetlands, enhancing biodiversity and reducing the impact of drought.

🏰 Margam Castle in Wales will undergo restoration with £900k, making it more accessible and engaging for the community.

🏫 Bushmills' Old School Project in Northern Ireland receives an initial £29k to develop plans to restore the building as a community space and visitor centre.

We are proud to support these extraordinary projects! To find out more, click the link 👉 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/news/ps30million-awarded-15-heritage-projects-ahead-30th-birthday?mtm_campaign=news&mtm_source=facebook&mtm_medium=social&mtm_content=&mtm_group=

28/09/2024

24/09/2024

Take a look at this amazing 👏

Two iconic buildings at the historic Grimsby Docks have been transformed and brought back into full use, thanks to players.

The Kasbah is a Conservation Area of national significance, hosting the only surviving cluster of 19th and 20th century traditional fish smokehouses in England.

Built in the 19th century, the Grade II listed Peterson’s Smokehouse functioned as a kipper house, but by 2017 it had been out of use for some time. Adjacent is Building 89, most recently known as Fred’s Fish, which was in need of modernisation. The two buildings have now been transformed and brought back into full economic use:

🐟 Peterson’s Smokehouse will be used as a traditional fish-smoking provider
✏️ Building 89 will be a mixed-use space, including offices and retail space

23/09/2024

🎻Funding News🎺

Ahead of their Proms performance, the Ulster Orchestra held an open rehearsal - their first public performance at their new home on Townsend Street, Belfast.

Our development funding of £267,975 will help Northern Ireland’s only symphony orchestra plan for building conservation alongside activity to connect local people with the orchestra and the buildings' heritage. The project will then bring forward proposals for £3.7million further funding from the Heritage Fund.

Pictured at the Townsend Street venue are Dr Paul Mullan, Northern Ireland Director at The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Auveen Sands, Ulster Orchestra Chief Executive.

Find out more about this exciting new project on our website:
https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/projects/ulster-orchestra-transforming-townsend-street-church-music-and-heritage-centre?mtm_campaign=news&mtm_source=facebook&mtm_medium=social&mtm_content=&mtm_group=

18/09/2024

Fancy some lunchtime reading?

Nick Gardner, our Head of Climate Action talks about harnessing the power of partnerships, our commitment to climate action and how to apply to our £20m fund in his recent blog.

Read it here: https://ow.ly/vNJk50Tj8K9

13/09/2024

Congratulations 👏

12/09/2024

Middle Street Resource Centre, an independent mental health centre in Nottingham, recently turned 50 years old. We awarded £98,000 in funding to celebrate with a heritage project.

Through remembering the past, participants found shared identity and improved their wellbeing. They expressed themselves creatively, including through making things like this memory box.

While the history of mental healthcare in Britain is well documented, the stories of people with lived experience of the system are often invisible. This project recorded the whole life histories of people who use Middle Street Resource Centre – rather than focusing solely on their illness stories – to humanise them and reduce the stigma surrounding mental ill health.

Participants included people who came to the centre as service users in the 1970s and are now group leaders and volunteers, as well as staff members who have worked there since the 1980s.

The project was made possible thanks to National Lottery players and supported by Nottingham Trent University.

Find out more👉 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/projects/hidden-heritage-wellbeing-community-co-creating-oral-histories-mental-health-care?mtm_campaign=news&mtm_source=facebook&mtm_medium=social&mtm_content=&mtm_group=

11/09/2024

We're supporting the Glasgow Meat Market Regeneration Project with £2.3million thanks to National Lottery players.

Meat Market Regeneration CIC is behind the redevelopment of the site between the city centre and Dennistoun to give it a new life as thriving hub for community, sport and local business, with heritage playing a key role.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s support will back both the physical regeneration of the B-listed Victorian sheds and a wide-ranging Heritage Activity Programme. Ensuring community involvement and putting the rich history of the site at the heart of a successful future for it.

Glasgow City Council

https://ow.ly/EiQP50T8tSm

10/09/2024

We’re excited to announce that we are showing our commitment to the future of the UK’s beloved places of worship ✨

With £15 million available for strategic projects, we’re helping these historic spaces build a sustainable future at the heart of their communities.

This is just the start – over the next three years, we’re expecting to invest £100 million into preserving heritage in and around our places of worship across the UK. Let’s work together to protect the heritage that binds our communities.

https://ow.ly/RCGj50TjYla

09/09/2024

Congratulations 👏