Heritage Lottery grant

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.

Since it was set up in 1994, under the National Lottery Act, it has awarded over £7.1billion to more than 40,000 projects, large and small, helping people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect their heritage.

HLF supports all kinds of projects, as long as they make a lasting difference for heritage, people and communities. These vary from restoring natural landscapes to rescuing neglected buildings, from recording diverse community histories to providing life-changing skills training.

The income of all the National Lottery distributors comes from the sale of National Lottery tickets. Of every £2 spent on a ticket, 56 pence (28 per cent) goes to the "good causes". The current operator of the National Lottery is Camelot Group.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is responsible for distributing 20 per cent of funds raised for "good causes".  This amount varies from year to year, depending on National Lottery income, and is in the region of £300m per year.

The Heritage Lottery Fund provides grants to not-for-profit organisations in response to applications for funding.

HLF uses a variety of methods to distribute funding. Most of its grants go to voluntary and community organisations which apply within a range of funding programmes. However, in certain cases to meet a specific need, HLF will also seek applications from organisations with recognised expertise or make a substantial grant to a partner to award funds on its behalf.

Ninety percent of HLF’s grant decisions are made locally. Decisions about HLF’s strategic direction, and grant applications over £2million, are made by the Trustees of the NHMF. Funding decisions under £2million are taken by local committees and staff across the nine English regions and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

HLF is a non-departmental public body accountable to Parliament via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Although HLF is not a government department, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport issues financial and policy directions to the organisation, which reports to Parliament through the Department. Decisions about individual applications and policies are entirely independent of the Government.

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Wikipedia