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The National Lottery Heritage Fund looking for applications for £100 million investment

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National Lottery Heritage Fund is looking for applications from UK heritage organisations for the Heritage Horizon Awards, which will invest £100 million over three years in ambitious, innovative and transformational projects.

Over the past 25 years, almost 200 National Lottery-funded projects worth over £5 million have boosted jobs, tourism and local economies. The Heritage Horizon Awards take this type of large-scale National Lottery investment in heritage to the next level.

“The National Lottery has generated huge sums of money to invest in heritage projects and every part of the UK has benefited from some of our biggest funding awards,” said National Lottery Heritage Fund CEO Ros Kerslake.

Large-scale National Lottery investment

V&A Dundee exterior by Ross Fraser McLean )

“This year we’re celebrating the 25th year of The National Lottery and it’s an important moment to reflect on just how transformational this unique funding model has been for our heritage. We are tremendously excited about the next 25 years and this £100m is a hugely important step on that journey.”

Requirements for potential applicants include:

  • Projects will need to have substantial proposals for recognising the contribution of The National Lottery. For the first time, The National Lottery Heritage Fund may choose to negotiate naming rights.
  • Applications from a full range of heritage are welcome. When making the awards, there will be a particular focus on The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s current strategic priorities – landscape and nature and heritage at risk.
  • An Expressions of Interest stage will give applicants an early steer on whether or not they are likely to be successful.
  • The most promising applicants to the Expression of Interests stage will be invited to present project proposals to a panel of trustees.
  • A shortlist of 10-12 successful bidders who are invited to make an application will then be publicly announced, with development funding available.
  • All successful applicants will need to have demonstrated exceptional proposals including a wide range of people in heritage.

Celebrating the 25th year of The National Lottery

Hope replaces Dippy at London’s Natural History Museum

“It is no secret that demand for National Lottery funding for good causes far exceeds available funding and we thought long and hard about whether we could continue to invest in such large-scale projects,” added Ros.

“When we consulted it was clear to us that if we stopped, it is unlikely that anyone else would be able to step in, and major, transformative heritage projects simply would not happen.”

Major projects previously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund include the Mary Rose Museum, the British Library Sound Archive, and V&A Dundee.

Heritage attractions to receive funding include Alexandra Palace, HMS Caroline, Stonehenge, and St Fagans.

Seven of the 10 most popular UK visitor attractions have also been funded by the National Lottery – The British Museum, National Gallery, Southbank Centre, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, The V&A, and Somerset House.

Find out more about how to apply on Heritage Horizons Award.

Images: British Museum, V&A Dundee, Natural History Museum

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Bea Mitchell

Bea is a journalist specialising in entertainment, attractions and tech with 10 years' experience. She has written and edited for publications including CNET, BuzzFeed, Digital Spy, Evening Standard and BBC. Bea graduated from King's College London and has an MA in journalism.

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