Heritage Fund awards £30m in grants as it prepares for 30th birthday

Fifteen heritage projects have received grants from a pot of more than £30m to mark the 30^th birthday of the National Lottery Heritage Fund next month.

The grants have been awarded to projects across the UK, from the restoration of Margam Castle in Wales to the renovation of Crystal Palace Park and its famous dinosaur sculptures in south-east London.

Almost £4.5m has been awarded for the regeneration of Tilbury Riverside Station in Essex, where the HMT Empire Windrush first docked in 1948. The funding aims to revitalise the Port of Tilbury and create a community hub, boosting the local economy and reestablishing the town as a cultural destination.

Ripon Museums, which comprises a Victorian workhouse and a Georgian prison and courthouse in North Yorkshire, received more than £2.5m to help educate visitors on the history of poverty, crime, fairness and justice.

The project will focus on essential repairs to the Workhouse Museum and allow for the management of over 8,700 artefacts currently in storage. The funding will also unify activity across the Ripon Museums Trust, exploring the evolving history and modern context of crime and justice, as well as the wider heritage of Ripon.

The Nerve Centre in Belfast, a creative media arts centre and social economy enterprise, received funding of £255,172 for Power Plants, a heritage engagement programme to explore how society generates, uses and values power to protect and repair natural heritage.

Led by international artist Oliver Jeffers, Power Plants will explore the depletion of native plant species and biodiversity loss in Britain and Ireland over the last 70 years. The grant will also provide volunteering opportunities, heritage workshops for schools, work placements, exhibitions and community and public events, alongside a Minecraft World to upskill young people.

Watford’s Museum and Heritage Service received just under £2.5m for the relocation of Watford Museum into the refurbished Grade II Listed Town Hall, with the ambition to refresh the museum to better meet the needs of local communities through new public museum spaces designed to reach defined core and target audiences.

Meanwhile Tullie in Carlisle received more than £4.4m for Project Tullie: Breaking Down Barriers, which aims to transform the museum over the next 10-15 years into an innovative, welcoming and sustainable cultural hub.

The 15 funded projects will provide opportunities for local communities to learn heritage skills, positively impact the environment and biodiversity, and promote the regeneration of the UK’s built heritage.

Combined, they will directly supply 87 jobs and apprenticeships and over 620 volunteer roles amounting to over 10,000 volunteer hours. The funding round has a particular focus on nature, and funded projects will plant more than 100,000 trees and redevelop over 1,000,000m-square of land.

The Heritage Fund, which turns 30 on 19 November, says it plans to invest a further £3.6bn over the next 10 years. It has awarded £8.6bn to over 47,000 projects across UK since being set up in 1994.

“These wonderful projects demonstrate the astonishing breadth of heritage that people value and want to pass onto future generations, from a Victorian workhouse to the famous Crystal Palace Park dinosaurs, and from one of the UK’s historic ports to our precious riverside habitats,” said Heritage Fund chief executive Eilish McGuinness.

“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players over the last 30 years, we have worked with those who care for heritage and helped transformed the UK’s heritage landscape, contributing to communities and the economy.

“Our funding benefits all parts of the heritage ecosystem, including visitors, volunteers and the communities which surround it, and I cannot wait to see what the future brings as we work to deliver our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.”

Funded projects

Crystal Palace Park, London (awarded £4,696,649) will restore its famous dinosaur sculptures and revitalise the park’s 200 acres of green space.

Tilbury Riverside Station, Essex (£4,478,310) will create a community hub, including artists’ studios and a cafe, in a former station building at the port where the Empire Windrush docked in 1948.

Project Tullie: Breaking Down Barriers, Carlisle (£4,453,582) will transform Tullie into an innovative and sustainable cultural hub that represents its local communities.

Whose Hoo, Kent (£2,943,041) will plant disease resistant elm trees and hedgerows, increasing biodiversity and providing social opportunities for the community.

Ripon Museums: Inspiration for a Fairer Future, North Yorkshire (£2,573,493) will carry out essential repairs to its Victorian workhouse building and improve management of its collections, which tell the history of poverty, crime, fairness and justice.

Reimagining and Revitalising Watford’s Museum and Heritage Service, Hertfordshire (£2,454,347) will support the relocation of the museum into the refurbished Grade II listed Town Hall to better meet local communities’ needs.

Riverwoods: A Blueprint for Riparian Woodland Recovery, across Scotland (£1,834,114) will improve woodlands and boost biodiversity in rivers and streams to support species including mussels and salmon.

Downs to the Sea: Recovery & Resilience in Wetland Habitats, Chichester (£1,693,187) will restore wetlands and ponds, minimising the impact of drought and boosting biodiversity.

Exmoor Pioneers: Past, Present and Future (£1,227,803) will sustain the local landscape, plant trees, organise community digs and conserve vulnerable heritage.

Menter y Plu, Llanystumdwy (£1,055,089) will transform a 200-year-old village pub into a community hub tackling social isolation and mental ill health.

Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum: The Synergy Project, Cheshire (£1,009,930) will explore the significance of the local chemical industry’s heritage and its influence on the world today.

Reimagining Margam Castle, Port Talbot (£900,030) will restore the Tudor Gothic mansion, improving sustainability and accessibility and creating new mixed-use public spaces.

Making Available the Heritage of All Saints, Staffordshire (£558,268) will conserve a number of the church’s heritage assets including 12th century stained glass windows.

The Nerve Centre: Power Plants, Belfast (£255,172) will use creativity to explore the generation and use of power, the depletion of native plant species and biodiversity, and the need to protect and repair our natural heritage.

Reading, Writing, Restoration: Bushmills’ Old School Project, Northern Ireland (£29,000) will repair and extend the school building to create new community and visitor space.