National Lottery Heritage Fund

Total Value of Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has distributed over £9.5 billion to more than 53,000 heritage projects across the UK since its establishment in 1994, making it one of the UK’s largest heritage funders.

Amount that can be applied for

• The programme supports a broad range of grant sizes, typically from £10,000 up to £10 million, covering small to large heritage projects. 
• For specific grant streams:
 – National Lottery Heritage Grants usually run from £10,000 to £250,000. 
 – Larger grants can be from £250,000 to £10 million, often involving a development phase followed by delivery.

Percentage that can be applied for

The Fund does not specify a single fixed “percentage of costs” applied across all grants, but indicates that projects must demonstrate appropriate match funding where required (e.g., usually 5% for projects under £1 million and 10% for those over £1 million).

Who can apply

Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organisations and private owners of a heritage asset and partnerships, such as:
• Charities, trusts, and charitable incorporated organisations
• Community and voluntary groups
• Community interest companies
• Local authorities and other public sector bodies
• Private owners of heritage assets (for certain grant levels)

Aims of the fund

The Fund aims to:
• Support projects that value, care for and sustain heritage, which can include natural environments, built heritage, cultural traditions and community memory. 
• Enable connection between people and communities and heritage. 
• Integrate four strategic investment principles, saving heritage, protecting the environment, inclusion/participation and organisational sustainability, as outlined in its Heritage 2033 strategy.

Timing

Smaller grants from £10,000 to £250,000 often have rolling or open application windows, with decisions typically made within about 8 weeks of application submission. Larger grants (£250,000 to £10 million) require an Expression of Interest and are reviewed on a quarterly basis, with the application process taking longer (often several months through development and delivery phases).

Examples of successful projects

The Fund supports a very wide variety of projects across the UK, including nature and heritage work:
• Evanton Community Wood, supporting woodland heritage and community access. 
• Great Fen habitat restoration, one of Europe’s largest landscape restoration efforts. 
• Woodberry Wetlands (London), urban wetland creation blending heritage and nature. 
• Many environmental and community initiatives have been funded, from landscaping heritage parks to biodiversity work and community engagement programmes.

Contact info

• Email: enquire@heritagefund.org.uk
• Website: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/