National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000

Overview

Is this the right programme for you?

• 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?
• 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 National Lottery Heritage Grants could be for you.

Our investment principles

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.

Things you need to know

• Your project must not start before we make a decision.
• There is no deadline so you can apply whenever you are ready.
• You can get advice on your project before you apply by submitting an optional Project Enquiry.
• Once we receive your application and all the correct supporting documents, we will assess your application and aim to give you a decision in eight weeks.
• Payments for this grant level are usually made in three stages: 50% in advance, 30% in advance, and then 20% in arrears.
• We provide lots of good practice guidance. You can read the guidance that is relevant to you to help you develop and manage your project.
• Explore our position and advice on using artificial intelligence (AI) tools in your grant application.

Welsh Language

If your project will take place in Wales, you must include the Welsh language in all aspects of your work. Tell us how you will promote and support the Welsh language and reflect the bilingual nature of Wales. Make sure that translations are included in your project plan and project budget under the ‘Other’ costs category within the project costs section of the application. For further information see our Welsh bilingual project guidance.

Promotion and acknowledgment of funding

Acknowledging your grant from the Heritage Fund is an important part of your project. It is your opportunity to show how National Lottery funding is being used to support heritage in the UK, and to publicly thank National Lottery players for making your project possible. Planning early, and allocating appropriate budget, will help you to meet our requirements and acknowledge your grant in ways that are creative and suited to your project. We encourage you to develop innovative offers or promotions for National Lottery players, for example, you might sign up for National Lottery Open Week to run special offers. Please include budget for acknowledgement in the ‘Publicity and promotions’ costs category within the project costs section of the application. We recommend you base these costs on quotes from potential suppliers. Use our acknowledgement guidance to plan your activities proportionate to the size of your grant.

Evaluation and reporting

Good quality evaluation helps you understand your impact and provides the opportunity for others to learn from your experience. In turn, this information helps us identify the difference we are making through our grants. We recommend you build in evaluation from the beginning of your project. Our evidence shows that the more carefully projects budget for their evaluation, the higher the quality of the final report. You will need to include budget for evaluation and reporting in the ‘Evaluation’ costs category within the project costs section of your application.

Skills development

We encourage you to consider opportunities for people to develop skills as part of your project. This could include young people, those not in training or employment, and people not currently working in the heritage sector. For example:

• heritage skills, where there are gaps, shortages or skills at risk of being lost, such as traditional crafts, building skills or digitisation
• organisational skills, including project management, business development, leadership or governance
• skills for climate adaptation and supporting net zero You may also consider developing a skills programme, which aims to diversify the heritage workforce and support a wider range of volunteers. You can include budget for skills development using the ‘training for staff’ and ‘training for volunteers’ cost categories within the project costs section of the application.

Full cost recovery

If you are an organisation in the voluntary sector (for example, you might have a board of trustees and be funded by grants and donations), we can cover a proportion of your organisation’s overheads through full cost recovery. Full cost recovery means securing funding for all the costs involved in running a project. This means that you can request funding for direct project costs as well as a proportionate share of your organisation’s fixed costs. This may include costs that partly support the project, but also support other projects or activities that your organisation provides, such as salaries of staff working across projects in administration, management, HR, or fundraising, office costs such as rent or utilities and legal or audit fees. Funding that covers some of your running costs can be important for your sustainability, so we encourage you to consider including this in your budget in the ‘Full costs recovery’ costs category if you are eligible. Recognised guidance on calculating the full cost recovery amount that applies to your project is available from organisations such as The National Lottery Community Fund.

Contributions from you, partners or supporters

We recommend that you consider whether other funders, organisations or people might be able to support your project either through additional cash or non-cash contributions. This will help show us that there is an interest in and commitment to your project when we come to assess your application. While we can fund total project costs, you will need to tell us why you are unable to raise cash or non-cash contributions from your own resources or other sources if this is the case.

What we fund

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.

Who can apply?

Under this programme, we accept applications from not-for-profit organisations, private owners of a heritage asset and partnerships. Here are some examples of the types of organisations we can fund:

• charities, trusts and charitable incorporated organisations
• community and voluntary groups
• community/parish councils
• community interest companies
• faith-based or church organisations
• local authorities
• other public sector organisations
• private owners of a heritage asset, for example a building, land, object or collection Organisations need to have a bank account, a governing document, and two or more members that are not related or living at the same address. If you are unsure whether you are eligible to apply, get in touch with your local team by submitting a Project Enquiry.

Partnerships

We encourage you to work with other people to develop and carry out your project. A partner is another organisation or third-party body that is integral to the delivery of your project. Partners are not subcontractors. They will take on an active role in the project and will be involved in the project. They will help to report on the project, attend regular partnership meetings and support project evaluation. If you plan to work with any other organisations to carry out a significant proportion of your project you must formalise your relationship with a partnership agreement.

Private owners of heritage

As a private owner of a heritage asset, for example a building, land, object or collection, you must demonstrate that the public benefit of your project outweighs any private gain. If your project includes any capital work, you will need to show us that your project:

• will significantly increase public access and public engagement with heritage
• has clear public enthusiasm and support
• needs National Lottery investment If the owner of the heritage is not making the application, we will ask them to sign up to the terms and conditions of your grant. We will not fund:
• works that can reasonably be considered as the statutory duty of the owner
• the purchase of buildings or any heritage assets
• construction of new buildings

How to apply

Use this checklist to make sure you are ready to apply:

• I have read the application guidance and application questions
• I have read the terms and conditions for this programme
• I have drawn up a project budget and checked my costings
• I have prepared all the mandatory supporting documents including a project plan, risk register and my organisation’s accounts
• I can meet the ownership requirement for any items we hope to acquire with this grant, if applicable
• I have any permissions or licences I need, for example a bat licence or listed building consent
• I have planned how to evaluate my project
• I have planned how to acknowledge my grant, if my application is successful When you are ready, you can use our optional Project Enquiry service to get feedback on your idea within 10 working days. Or go straight to our online service to apply now. There is no deadline for applications. Watch our video that takes you through the process of applying for a £10,000–£250,000 grant.

Supporting documents

You will need to provide relevant supporting documents, outlined in this section, as part of the application process. You must provide the following mandatory documents:

• a governing document (unless exempt)
• accounts information
• a project plan and risk register Not all of the other documents listed below will apply to your project. The additional information and the application questions guidance will help you decide if they are relevant. Please do not submit any extra documents, as we will not use them in assessment.

Governing document (for example, constitution)

You must provide a copy of your organisation’s governing document. You must have at least two people on your board or management committee who are not related by blood or marriage, or living at the same address. Your governing document should include the following:

• the legal name and aims of your organisation
• a statement that prevents your organisation from distributing income or property to its members during its lifetime
• a statement which confirms that, if your organisation is wound up or dissolves, the organisation’s assets will be distributed to another charitable or not-for-profit organisation and not to the organisation’s members
• the date when it was adopted and the signature of your chairperson or other authorised person We are unable to fund your organisation if your constitution does not include the above. The Charity Commission provides guidance on creating a governing document. We do not need to see your governing document if you are:
• a public organisation, for example, a local authority or university
• a private owner of heritage
• a charity registered with the Charity Commissions for England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or the Scottish Charity Regulator

Accounts

You must provide your most recently audited or accountant verified accounts. If your organisation’s accounts are older than 18 months, or your organisation was set up less than 14 months ago and does not have a set of audited accounts, you must provide your last three bank statements or a signed letter from your bank.

Project plan and risk register

All applicants must submit a project plan and a risk register. We recommend you use our project plan and risk register template.

Job descriptions (if applicable)

If you plan to recruit new staff or apprentices to help deliver your project, you need to provide a job description for each new post. Each job description should include the proposed salary and working hours.

Briefs for commissioned work (if applicable)

Briefs describe any work you plan to buy in during your project. If you are commissioning work, for example, from an artist or architect, then you should provide a brief. The brief should describe the works, how long they will take, how much they will cost and the skills required. You can find out more information and use our briefs template.

Calculation of full cost recovery (if applicable)

If you have included full cost recovery as a cost heading in your project costs, you must provide a document that shows how you have calculated this based on recent published accounts. Recognised guidance on calculating the full cost recovery amount that applies to your project is available from organisations such as The National Lottery Community Fund. We cannot accept applications that include full cost recovery from public sector organisations (for example, government-funded museums, local authorities or universities).

Project images (if applicable)

If relevant, provide up to six images that help illustrate your project. Please make sure you have all the permissions required, such as copyright ownership and participant consent forms, to share these images with us, as we may use them to tell people about your project, including our decision makers.

Evidence of support (if applicable)

Provide up to six pieces of evidence of support, for example letters, emails or feedback forms, from other organisations or individuals who are supporting or taking part in your project. Providing evidence of support is a good way of showing us that you have spoken to other people and that they are interested in and committed to your project.

Partnership agreements (mandatory if applicable)

If you plan to work with any other organisations to carry out your project, you will need to provide a partnership agreement. This document should outline all partner’s roles and responsibilities and should be signed by all parties. This document should reflect the needs of your project and you may need to seek independent advice on how to best write an agreement.

Condition survey (if applicable)

If your project involves the conservation of heritage, you must provide a condition survey or another appropriate document to tell us the current condition of the heritage and the works that are needed to return the heritage to a good condition. The survey or report should also indicate the relative priority of the proposed works so you know which are the most critical and need to be tackled most urgently. There are other types of survey which may be relevant to include as part of a condition survey, such as a building performance and energy efficiency survey.

Evidence of cash contributions (if applicable)

If any of your project budget is derived from cash contributions from sources other than the grant you are applying for from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, you must include a document that outlines and evidences these contributions. This includes any cash contribution from your own organisation. This could be a letter confirming the offer of funds or a copy of a bank statement showing the funds in your account.

Ownership documents (if applicable)

If you are planning any capital works, you will need to provide copies of any documents relevant to your ownership. This could be Land Registry ownership documents, or a lease or heads of terms. If you are intending to purchase buildings, land or heritage items, you will find more information about what to provide in our acquiring buildings, land or heritage items section.

How we assess your application

Assessment process

Please choose when to make your application carefully. Do not rush to submit an application before you are ready, and make sure you have thought through the best way to shape your activity and how you are going to manage it. We receive a higher number of applications than we can fund and need to prioritise where our investment can make a significant difference. You should answer all of the questions in the application. Once you submit your online application, we will check everything is in place and will be in touch to let you know when you can expect a decision. We will not be able to start the assessment of your application until we have the relevant information and supporting documents. Unless we need to check anything with you, it is unlikely that you will hear from us again until we notify you of the decision. As an organisation that gives out public funds, we carry out some checks on the information you provide to us when you apply (for example, we may check your history with us or carry out identity or fraud checks). When we assess your application, we will consider a range of factors including:

• whether your project is relevant to heritage in the UK
• the needs and opportunities your project will address
• how strongly your project will take into account all four investment principles
• how your project’s impact will be sustained We may also consider issues such as achieving a geographical spread of our funding. If your application does not clearly relate to UK heritage or does not take into account all four investment principles, then it may be rejected earlier during the assessment process and we will let you know.

Considering risk

When assessing your application, we will make a measured judgement on the potential risks to your project and current organisational risks – and we will look to see if you have identified these and told us how you will mitigate against them. All projects will face threats and opportunities that you need to identify and manage. We want you to be realistic about the risks your project and organisation may face so that you are in a good position to manage and deliver the project successfully. You should also carefully consider inflation and contingency costs within your application. Inflation for capital projects is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. You should account for inflation based on the project timescale, plus other factors such as materials used, labour demands and location. You can access analysis and projections for inflation costs from sources such as the Building Cost Information Service and consultancies including Gardiner & Theobold Market Intelligence, Turner & Townsend and Rider Levett Bucknall. The types of risk and problems you should consider are:

• financial: for example, a reduced contribution from another funding source
• organisational: for example, a shortage of people with the skills you need or staff needed to work on other projects
• economic: for example, an unexpected rise in the cost of materials
• technical: for example, discovering unexpected and wide-ranging damp
• social: for example, negative responses to consultation or a lack of interest from your target audience
• management: for example, a significant change in the project team
• legal: for example, subsidy control, or changes in law that make the project impractical
• environmental: for example, difficulties in finding sources of timber from well managed forests

Assessment time

Once we have everything we need, we aim to assess applications within eight weeks, but on occasion assessment may take longer. (Please note: we cannot start assessing your application until all the required checks are completed and we receive all the required supporting information.)

Decisions

Decisions are made on a monthly basis by the senior investment or engagement staff of your nation or area.

If your application is successful

You must wait to receive permission from us before beginning your project. You will need to submit a form online and provide us with:

• your bank account details (mandatory)
• proof of ownership/leasehold requirements (for all capital projects, if any changes have taken place since application)
• details of statutory permissions and/or licences required and obtained (if applicable)
• confirmation of partnership funding (if applicable)
• project cashflow forecast (if applicable)
• project management structure and methods for choosing consultants, contractors and suppliers (if applicable)
• project timetable or work programme (if applicable) Your organisation will need a bank account. The name on this bank account must exactly match the name of the organisation making the application. You will need to sign up to our terms and conditions.

How we pay your grant

We will pay your grant in three instalments:

1. we will give you 50% of the grant up-front
2. once you have spent the first half of your total eligible project costs, we will give you the next 30%
3. we will pay the final 20% of your grant when you have finished your project and sent us a final completion report, project evaluation and proof you have acknowledged your grant We will hold the last 20% of your grant until we are satisfied that the project is complete, that the grant has been spent appropriately, and you have sent us your evaluation report and proof of your acknowledgement of the funding. If your project involves the acquisition of heritage, we will pay the full grant amount needed for the purchase in a single payment. If you spend less on the project than you were expecting, then we will not pay you the full grant. If you spend more on the project than you were expecting, we are unable to give you more than the grant we awarded.

Reporting

We are really keen to hear about how your project is progressing and the achievements you have made with the funding. As part of your formal reporting on your grant, you must provide us with project updates during the lifetime of your project. We will let you know the frequency of reporting that best supports you and reflects the risk of the project.

If your application is unsuccessful

The assessment process is competitive and we cannot fund all of the good quality applications that we receive. If your application is unsuccessful, we will tell you why and we may suggest that you make another application, but you must talk to us about this before reapplying.

Acquiring buildings, land or heritage items

You may have plans to use our grant to fund the acquisition of a building, land or heritage items. We can fund projects that involve the purchase of land and/or buildings that are important to our heritage and are for sale at or below market value. The principal reasons for your proposed purchase must be a benefit to the long-term management of heritage and for public access. Private individuals or for-profit organisations cannot use our funding to acquire buildings, land or heritage items. It is important that purchases align with our strategy and investment principles as a funder. If your project involves buying land or buildings, you must buy them freehold or with a lease with at least 99 years left to run. We will only help to buy buildings, land or heritage items if you demonstrate in your application that:

• risks to the preservation of the buildings, land or heritage items will be reduced if the purchase is successful