National Lottery Heritage Fund is making at least £15 million available over the next three years for strategic projects at a regional or national level that will proactively tackle long-standing issues, enable co-ordinated cross-territory approaches, address gaps, and accelerate new ideas and interventions, including but not limited to:
- Projects at scale that develop the processes, systems, and infrastructure needed through a change in use, management, or ownership.
- Projects that establish the cultural and heritage significance of places of worship where that may be at risk of loss.
- Capacity-building projects that can provide broader support, advice, and guidance for owners and managers of historic religious buildings and sites.
- Initiatives that bring together many organisations, faith groups, and funders to collaborate and find solutions to issues facing places of worship and heritage.
- Exploring feasibility for more sustainable options for existing or new uses for places of worship.
- Projects that trial different approaches to managing places of worship at an area scale.
- Projects that explore the heritage of places of worship to support and contribute to the local and visitor economy at a national or regional level.
This strategic initiative is part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage 2033 strategy to offer targeted funding to address long-standing heritage issues across the UK.
Applications for up to £250,000 can be submitted at any time and decisions are made monthly. For grants over £250,000, decisions are made on a quarterly basis by the Committee of the applicant’s nation or area or by the board of trustees.
The next deadline for applications over £250,000 is 15 August 2024.