• Is your organisation looking to care for and sustain heritage in the UK?
• Will your heritage project run for no more than five years?
• Do you require a grant of between £10,000 and £250,000, or £250,000 and £10 million?
• Are you a not-for-profit organisation, a private owner of a heritage asset or a partnership?
• Does your project take into account our four investment principles?

If you answered yes to these questions, then one of our two National Lottery Heritage Grants could be for you.

We 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 and habitats, historic buildings and environments, or cultures, traditions and people’s memories. Explore a wide range of the types of heritage that your project could include.

We 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.

Our 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.

We 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.

We will not support projects that include installing artificial grass or plants, however specialist play safety surfacing and professional sports surfaces are allowed.

Four investment principles guide all our grant decision making under our 10-year strategy, Heritage 2033:

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

You must take all four principles into account in your application. The strength of focus, and emphasis on each principle, is for you to decide and demonstrate.

The investment principles, and our strategic initiatives, will help us achieve our ambitions for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone’s future.