The renamed National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) has announced plans to distribute about £1.2bn over the next five years. The organisation, which has rebranded from the Heritage Lottery Fund, launched its strategic framework for the next five years in January. A simplified funding portfolio includes National Lottery Grants for Heritage, for any type of heritage project seeking between £3,000 and £5m.
The NLHF is moving to a three-region model in England (North; Midlands & East; and London & South), alongside Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with about 80% of decisions to be devolved across the UK. There will be a wider network of office and staff locations across the UK to support this new structure.
The NLHF will expect all projects to take steps to reach out to new people. It will have a particular focus on reaching people who are under-represented in heritage.
The NLHF will also support places that are under-represented in its funding, with a particular focus on areas that have historically received the least funding and that have high levels of deprivation. It has identified 13 local authority areas that fulfil both criteria.
Fiona Talbott, the head of museums, libraries and archives at the NLHF, says the organisation will continue to insist on effective audience engagement as part of capital projects.
Collections funding
The NLHF also announced details of a new Dynamic Collections Fund for time-limited projects, aimed at supporting areas such as curatorial skills, sharing expertise, storage solutions, and developing and rationalising collections.
“We are working on getting a better understanding of all the collections initiatives out there, so we can get a picture of what’s worked and what hasn’t,” says Talbott. “It will be at that point we’ll start looking at it. I can’t say whether it will be ring-fenced money, or an indicative budget, but there will be dedicated funding for Dynamic Collections.”
Alistair Brown, the policy officer at the Museums Association, says: “Broadly speaking, it all looks quite good. There’s been some quite substantial reduction in NLHF funding over the past few years, so people will be pleased to see that £1.2bn figure over the next five years.
“I think the jury’s out on one big simplified fund. It does mean it’s simpler for applicants because there’s only one fund to worry about.
The NLHF is moving to a three-region model in England (North; Midlands & East; and London & South), alongside Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with about 80% of decisions to be devolved across the UK. There will be a wider network of office and staff locations across the UK to support this new structure.
Awards of more than £5m will be decided by the UK board of trustees. Projects will be expected to deliver on strategic objectives including inspiring the public to value heritage more and to make heritage more inclusive.
The NLHF will also support places that are under-represented in its funding, with a particular focus on areas that have historically received the least funding and that have high levels of deprivation. It has identified 13 local authority areas that fulfil both criteria.
Fiona Talbott, the head of museums, libraries and archives at the NLHF, says the organisation will continue to insist on effective audience engagement as part of capital projects.
“Our funding for the past 25 years has been a mixture of capital and activity projects,” Talbott says.
“Contrary to what people think, most of our business goes in heritage grants below £100,00, in terms of numbers, which far exceeds that for capital projects. I can’t see a situation where museums wouldn’t keep accessing those smaller amounts of money. We know the sector very well and our regional area teams work with lots of museums and know what their needs are.”
Collections funding
The NLHF also announced details of a new Dynamic Collections Fund for time-limited projects, aimed at supporting areas such as curatorial skills, sharing expertise, storage solutions, and developing and rationalising collections.
“We are working on getting a better understanding of all the collections initiatives out there, so we can get a picture of what’s worked and what hasn’t,” says Talbott. “It will be at that point we’ll start looking at it. I can’t say whether it will be ring-fenced money, or an indicative budget, but there will be dedicated funding for Dynamic Collections.”
Alistair Brown, the policy officer at the Museums Association, says: “Broadly speaking, it all looks quite good. There’s been some quite substantial reduction in NLHF funding over the past few years, so people will be pleased to see that £1.2bn figure over the next five years.
“I think the jury’s out on one big simplified fund. It does mean it’s simpler for applicants because there’s only one fund to worry about.
“But I do wonder how the fund is then going to judge between lots of different projects. Organisations tend to think of the NLHF as somewhere you go for big capital projects, and people may prioritise those projects over other smaller-scale, interesting projects. I think they’ll need to keep encouraging organisations to bring forward interesting project submissions.”