| Agency Name: | National Lottery Heritage Fund |
| Type: | Non-departmental public body |
| Jurisdiction: | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters: | Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London |
| Coordinates: | 51.5077°N -0.0737°W |
| Employees: | 300 |
| Minister1 Name: | Nigel Huddleston |
| Minister1 Pfo: | Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage |
| Chief1 Name: | Simon Thurley |
| Chief1 Position: | Chairperson |
| Chief2 Name: | Eilish McGuinness |
| Chief2 Position: | Chief Executive |
| Parent Department: | Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport |
| Parent Agency: | National Heritage Memorial Fund |
| Parent Agency Type: | organisation |
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
The fund's predecessor bodies were the National Land Fund, established in 1946, and the National Heritage Memorial Fund, established in 1980.[1] The current body was established as the "Heritage Lottery Fund" in 1994.[2] It was re-branded as the National Lottery Heritage Fund in January 2019.[3]
The fund's income comes from the National Lottery, which was managed until 2024 by Camelot Group.[4] Its objectives are "to conserve the UK's diverse heritage, to encourage people to be involved in heritage and to widen access and learning".[5] As of 2019, it had awarded £7.9 billion to 43,000 projects.[3]
In 2006, the National Lottery Heritage Fund launched the Parks for People program with the aim to revitalize historic parks and cemeteries. From 2006 to 2021, the Fund had granted £254 million to 135 projects.[6]
In January 2019 it simplified its funding schemes under one banner – National Lottery Grants for Heritage – with awards from £3,000 to £5 million.[3] Funding requests for projects over £5 million will be considered as part of two time-limited national competitions to be held in 2020–21 and 2022–23.[3]
Its funding routes include the Digital Skills for Heritage Fund, a £3.5m fund for grants to support digital volunteering in the heritage sector, launched in November 2021.[7]
The chair of the trustees is appointed by the Prime Minister;[8] René Olivieri served as interim chair from January 2020[9] following Sir Peter Luff's retirement at the end of 2019.[10] Dr Simon Thurley CBE, former Chief Executive of English Heritage, became the chair of trustees on 1 April 2021.[11] [12]
The Chief Executive from July 2016 to December 2021 was Ros Kerslake OBE, former CEO of The Prince's Regeneration Trust.[13] In August 2021, the Fund announced that Ros Kerslake would be stepping down at the end of 2021.[14] The Chief Executive since January 2022 is Eilish McGuinness.[15]
The Fund's head office is in London, and it has offices elsewhere in the UK.
Major projects have included:[16]