Heritage Lottery Fund - 'Our Heritage'

An Our Heritage grant can help you protect and share the heritage you care about. Your project could focus on anything from personal memories and cultural traditions to archaeological sites, museum collections and rare wildlife. The Our Heritage open programme is for any type of project related to national, regional or local heritage in the UK. You can apply at any time for a grant of more than £10,000 and up to £100,000.

Heritage includes many different things from the past that we value and want to pass on to future generations, for example: archaeological sites; collections of objects, books or documents in museums, libraries or archives; cultural traditions such as stories, festivals, crafts, music, dance and costumes; historic buildings; histories of people and communities; histories of places and events; the heritage of languages and dialects; natural and designed landscapes and gardens; people’s memories and experiences (often recorded as ‘oral history’); places and objects linked to our industrial, maritime and transport history; and natural heritage including habitats, species and geology.

Who’s entitled to apply?

Under this programme, we fund applications from: not-for-profit organisations; private owners of heritage, including individuals and for-profi t organisations; and partnerships of the above. If you are applying as a partnership, you will need to nominate a lead applicant. The lead applicant should provide a signed partnership agreement showing the involvement of each partner and how the project will be managed. If private individuals or for-profit organisations are involved in a project, either as a partner or as the lead applicant, public benefit must outweigh private gain.

Here are some examples of the types of organisations we fund: community or voluntary groups; Community Interest Companies; charities or trusts; social enterprises; community/parish councils; local authorities; other public sector organisations, such as nationally funded museums; and private owners of heritage, including individuals and for-profit organisations.

How to apply

By downloading the guidance and application form from the Heritage Lottery Fund website www.hlf.org.uk/looking-funding/our-grant-programmes/our-heritage. Local office contact for Wales is James William House, 9 Museum Place, Cardiff, CF10 3BD Telephone: 029 20343413 E-mail: wales@hlf.org.uk.

What is the level of grant available?

‘Sharing Heritage’ provides grants of £10,000 - £100,000 for larger-scale heritage projects. If your project is designed to benefit people in Wales, we expect you to make appropriate use of the Welsh language when you deliver your project, Welsh translation costs will need to be factored into the costs for the project.

How often are grant applications considered?

There are no application deadlines for this programme - apply anytime. The application form is straightforward and we will assess your application in eight weeks.