New National Lottery Heritage Grants Accepting Applications from Across the UK

National Lottery Heritage Grants form part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s new 10-year strategy, Heritage 2033, that aims to invest £3.6 billion across the UK with grants ranging from £10,000 up to £10 million.

The strategy is centred around a simplified framework of four investment principles:

• Saving heritage.
• Protecting the environment.
• Inclusion, access and participation.
• Organisational sustainability.

Grants are available to support projects of up to five years that care for and sustain heritage in the UK. This could include nature and habitats, historic buildings and environments, or cultures, traditions and people’s memories. 

The programme funds 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.

Two levels of funding are available:

• Grants from £10,000 to £250,000 for projects of no more than five years in duration.
• Grants from £250,000 to £10 million for projects of no more than five years in duration (excluding the development phase).

Applications from:

• £10,000 to £100,000 will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations, private owners of heritage and partnerships.
• £100,000 to £10 million will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations and partnerships led by not-for-profit organisations.

Applications for more than £250,000 require an Expression of Interest which can be submitted at any time. If successful, applicants will then need to submit a development phase application. These have quarterly application deadlines.

Applications for grants of between £10,000 and £250,000 are open all year round with decisions in about two months.

Commenting, the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Chief Executive, Eilish McGuinness said:

“Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re able to invest £870 million across our first three-year delivery plan in projects of all sizes that connect people and communities to the UK’s heritage.

“We see heritage as broad and inclusive. If there’s something from the past that you care for and want to pass it on to future generations, we want to hear from you.”

Applications are currently being accepted for all levels of funding.

For more information on the National Lottery Heritage Grants, click Funding | The National Lottery Heritage Fund