Releasing the potential of UK heritage

Over the last 30 years, we have invested in heritage to make better places for communities to live, work and visit. Celebrating and preserving our history, architecture, landscape and culture is not just important for its own sake, it plays a vital role in connecting communities, bringing joy and supporting economic regeneration.  

Evidence shows that when investments contribute to the long-term vision for a place, the benefits are profound and long-lasting. So, our Heritage 2033 strategy, launched in March, places a strong emphasis on making sustained investments in the UK’s cultural and natural heritage, making it more accessible, inclusive, sustainable and flexible.  

Since we formed in 1994, we’ve invested £8.7bn of National Lottery players’ money in over 51,000 projects. The results have been transformative. We’ve revitalised buildings, grown collections, restored landscapes, sparked curiosity and excitement in communities and developed young people and community partners.

New journeys start in special places

The last few years have seen no end of challenges. From Covid to the cost-of-living crisis, the heritage sector has come under strain. As communities try to respond, it is incumbent on us to invest in a way that makes our heritage both valued and cared for, now and in the future. And that requires us to focus on impact.

To achieve this, we’re shifting our emphasis from funding projects to long-term investments in places – reflecting local needs and tackling long-term issues at scale. Over the next decade, this perspective will allow us to anticipate and adapt to future needs as well as respond to current ones, in a way that offers inspiration and builds pride in place by connecting the past with the future.

Thanks to the Heritage Fund’s 30 years’ experience building local capacity and developing relationships, we know what good place-based projects look like. And we can draw on deep reserves of learning from previous programmes such as the High Street Action Zone, Townscape Heritage, Landscape Partnerships and Areas of Focus. 

The funding approach

We have allocated £200m of long-term funding for 20 Heritage Places. This sustained investment seeks to maximise the positive impact on a local area’s economy, from jobs and skills to wellbeing and community-building. 

Rooted in a place’s unique culture, history and natural resources, the scope of schemes will naturally be broad, including everything from a city-centre initiative to green spaces and seaside towns. By creating integrated and holistic schemes in partnership with other investors, communities and all those who care for their places, we will put heritage at the heart of transforming places. 

£200m over 10 years is a significant investment and we will invest the remaining 95% of the c. £3.6bn over next decades in projects across the UK. Our aim is to encourage more communities to put heritage at the foundation of their place and ensure it is valued, cared for and sustained for everyone’s future.

Heritage Places is only one way we will deliver this place-based approach. As part of the Heritage 2033 strategy, other place-based interventions include Nature Cities and Towns, with more to follow designed with the same place-based approach, at different scales and in collaboration with strategic partners. 

Partners in heritage

Over the 10-year period, we’ll work in close partnerships across heritage, community and civic organisations with shared ambitions for the place and community. We’ll look holistically at partner needs and co-design plans, getting involved and providing financial support from the early stages.  

Sheerness Dockyard Church after renovation. Photo: Hugh Broughton Architects

A great illustration of a heritage project is the Sheerness Dockyard, a historic church left in ruins for more than 20 years after a devastating fire. Following a £5.2m Heritage Fund investment, it has been turned into a world-class business hub for 16- to 30-year-olds looking to grow their own business. This restored building now provides an inspiring venue for developing skills of local young people, making a major difference to the local community and beyond – a heritage beacon from the past now lighting the future. 

Combined with our strong partnerships with governments, local authorities and statutory agencies, we can inject deep experience and help unleash new energy so communities can view their heritage in a new light and with new positivity. Innovation will remain critical as we strive to deliver our investment principles to achieve benefits in terms of skills, volunteering opportunities, opportunities for young people and digital technology.  

The first nine Heritage Places

This week we are pleased to announce the first nine of 20 Heritage Places in the UK. They are: Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, County Durham, Glasgow, Leicester, Medway, Neath Port Talbot, North East Lincolnshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Torbay. Our six committees representing Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England used national data and local expertise to recommend these first nine areas based on their need, opportunity and potential to benefit from investment.  

By putting heritage, people and place at the centre, we can respond to pressing society needs, celebrate what makes us unique and create a better future for all. We’re looking forward to working with partners who share our vision, none of which would be possible without the support of UK National Lottery players.

Eilish McGuinness is Chief Executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
 heritagefund.org.uk/
@HeritageFundUK | @Eilish_McGu