The national lottery in the UK has given £3.4billion since 1994 to more than 10,600 historic buildings, monuments, and area projects through grants. The grants can be anywhere between £10,000 and £10million to make sure that projects and places important to the country’s heritage are protected, especially going into the future. Locations supported by the lottery both from physical tickets and online lotto are made up of places of worship, historic buildings, and landmarks, coming up with new uses for historic buildings and also supporting community archaeology projects.
What is heritage?
Heritage is anything from the past that is valued and deemed important to be passed on to future generations. These things are important to pass on so that future generations know where they have come from, and know what their ancestors experienced and how they lived. One place which is an example of preserving heritage is Beamish, The Living Museum of The North, which is protecting memories, physical items, buildings, and also cultural practices of people living through different periods of time in the North East of England. In 2016, Beamish The Living Museum of The North received £11million from The Heritage Lottery Fund to support the creation of the 1950s Town. It went on to include a cinema, a milk bar, a street of houses, a police station, and even a town hall and a park.
Great Malvern Priory
The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Mary and St.Michael in Great Malvern applied to the National Lottery Heritage Grant and was awarded £69,536 in 2025. The money was awarded so that vital repairs could be carried out on the priory’s internationally significant collection of stained glass. The Priory has, out of any other parish church in England, the most extensive collection of English medieval stained glass. In addition to supporting repairs to the glass, the installation of new toilets and increasing their accessibility will also be carried out. Development of the priory will also include increasing its churchyard’s biodiversity and reducing its carbon footprint by installing heat pumps.
Rev’d Roger Latham, Vicar of Great Malvern Priory, said to the National Lottery:
“We are thrilled to have received this initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we can now develop our plans to conserve our unique heritage, bringing it to life for the visitors of today and preserving it for generations to come.”
The Old Black Lion
The Old Black Lion has been saved in West Northamptonshire by being awarded £31,873.69. The Old Black Lion was awarded this money through lottery funding to save it because it is one of the oldest pubs in Northamptonshire. Archaeologists discovered that the pub has been in use since around 1150, and after being destroyed in a fire in 1675, it became the Old Black Lion in 1720. The building had fallen into a state of disrepair after closing down. The pub has been able to reopen as a result of the money provided in the grant.
Newcastle Almshouse to be transformed
£4.6million was given in a grant to the Iconic Keelmen’s Hospital in Newcastle after it became at risk. It will be renovated into 20 affordable housing units, keeping the building open. The building was empty for almost two decades before this grant was given to the cause. The grant is also giving local people the opportunity to learn more about the history of the site and the building. The opportunities to learn about it will be given through heritage skills training, specialist talks and demonstrations, and an oral history project.
Plas Gunter Mansion
Welsh historians in Abergavenny will be able to put more money into the historic Plas Gunter Mansion through a grant they received from the National Lottery. The house played a significant role during the 1670s, following the English reformation, as a public place of Catholic worship. Thomas Gunter allowed mass to be held in the attic chapel.
Owen Davies, Chair of Plas Gunter Mansion Trust, said:
“The potential of our project to engage more people with heritage, boost the local economy, and make Abergavenny a better place to live, work, and visit is considerable. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will open the most historic parts of the building to the public for the first time and reveal a capsule of stories from the past 400 years.
“Local, national and international visitors will be able to learn more about the history and cultural identity of Abergavenny and its relevance to the wider themes of persecution, tolerance and sanctuary which are particularly pertinent today.”
Impact
These grants have the power to change the trajectory of the future by remembering and funding memories of the past. Future generations will not have the chance to benefit from the history of the regions and places they are in.
It is usually easy to find out where grants have been given out by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, as there is also guidance for how to announce and put out a public announcement of the grant. Newspaper coverage and other types of media coverage are an essential part of promoting the grant being awarded, and public relations support can be provided by the Lottery Fund if needed, too.
