National Lottery Heritage Fund: Heritage 2033
Overview
As the largest funder for the UK’s heritage, their vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.
Over the next decade they will take a longer-term view, investing in heritage for the future as well as for the present. They will invest in places, not just individual projects, to bring about benefits for people, places and our natural environment.
They will strengthen partnerships with governments, local authorities and statutory agencies and create new collaborations with those who share our vision.
These ambitions are set out in a simplified investment framework and form the foundation of their shared vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone.
Heritage 2033 Overview
Their vision
They want heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone’s future.
Their investment principles and what they’ll achieve by 2033
Saving heritage:
- improved condition and understanding of heritage
- reduced amount of ‘heritage at risk’
- delivered transformational long-term projects
- made digital heritage more accessible
Protecting the environment:
- put landscapes and habitats into recovery
- increased understanding of and connection to nature
- reduced the negative environmental impact of our funding portfolio
- improved heritage’s ability to adapt to climate change
Inclusion, access and participation:
- increased diversity of heritage workforces and audiences
- reduced barriers for people under-served by heritage
- enabled more people’s heritage to be recognised
- championed digital technology to improve access
Organisational sustainability:
- increased organisations’ commercial and governance capabilities
- developed skills and capacity across heritage
- embedded resilience in projects we fund
- strengthened heritage’s contribution to local economies
Their approach
- Open programmes for all types of heritage projects with the majority of decisions made at local level.
- Strategic interventions to tackle issues at large and cross-territory scale.
- Partnerships that combine resources and expertise to create investments with greater impact.
- A focus on place, landscape and nature, heritage in need and responding to opportunities and emergencies.
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Funding Portfolio
Open, responsive, devolved
They will continue their current approach of offering open funding programmes – from small grants up to multi-million-pound projects – for all types of heritage.
Most funding decisions will continue to be delegated to their six area and nation committees and operational staff across the UK. This will enable differences in heritage character in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to benefit from local expertise.
Scale and reach
They have introduced a higher investment threshold of £10m to allow for larger-scale investment, and will consider investing in projects above this threshold to support truly exceptional heritage projects across the UK. They will adapt their investment thresholds and approach through the 10-year strategy to respond to the needs and requirements of heritage.