Community Heritage Grants

About Community Heritage Grants

Barnet Council has been awarded £70,000 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support community-led and locally-based heritage projects inspired by Barnet’s Cultural Impact Award theme of Light and Flight.

Grants of £5,000 - £10,000 are available for up to eight new heritage projects based in Barnet and delivered between February 2026 – February 2027.

We want to make Barnet’s heritage more visible, inclusive and meaningful for everyone.

Community Heritage Grants aim to help local organisations uncover, explore and share the stories, places, people and traditions that shape Barnet. We are interested in projects that illuminate hidden histories and spark the imagination, revealing new perspectives on our borough and inspiring fresh ways to connect with our shared heritage.

Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage.

The Community Heritage Grants are made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

What type of projects are we looking to support?

Projects must be based in the borough and involve and benefit local communities through public facing activity, events or participation.

Examples of projects eligible for funding could include: 

research and documentation projects, such as archival research, digitisation, oral history collection, storytelling that culminate in a public display or event
creative responses to the heritage themes of Light & Flight for example through performance, artworks, public art, exhibitions, film
workshops and activities that explore heritage themes to support deeper community engagement and participation

Skills development can also form part of your grant. Applicants are encouraged to identify heritage skills training needs and outline associated costs in their funding request. Examples of eligible skills development might include oral history training, documentation, or digital capture. You can tell us what you need.

Funding criteria and eligibility

Community Heritage Grants are open to community and cultural organisations, charities, limited companies and CICs (not-for-profit projects only).

Individuals are not eligible to apply, although we welcome applications from individuals working in partnership with constituted or registered organisations.

To be considered for funding, projects must:

tell a story of Barnet's heritage, inspired by Barnet's Cultural Impact Award theme of Light and Flight
be delivered in the borough between February 2026 and completed by February 2027 – this includes completion of evaluation
offer inclusive opportunities for a diverse range of communities to engage with heritage
have a public facing element to be showcased during the programme year and/or at the festival in November 2026
consider how outputs will be documented

In addition, we are keen to support projects that:  

highlight marginalised voices
celebrate overlooked or underrepresented heritage stories
foster collaboration and partnership between organisations, community groups, and individual heritage/artist practitioners
are from organisations that haven’t previously successfully applied for Council or National Lottery Heritage Grant funding

How to apply

Applications open on Friday, 14 November 2025 and close on Wednesday, 14 January 2026 at 5pm.

Step 1: Read the guidelines

Before you start your application, please read the Community Heritage Grants guidelines. They include important information about context, how we define heritage, our funding criteria, the application questions and the supporting information you need to supply. They also outline how grants are assessed, and what happens when you are awarded.

Read the Community Heritage Grants application guidelines

Step 2: Prepare your application

Prepare your budget

use the budget template provided below

complete the template and save it as a PDF to attach it to your online application.

Complete the Community Heritage Grants budget template

Prepare your answers

you may want to use the Word version of the application form below to practice your answers before submitting them online

Download a Word version of the application form

Step 3: Submit your application

Once your budget and answers are ready, complete and submit the online application form.

Submit online application form

Help with your application

If you have any queries about eligibility or making a submission, or if you have access needs that could be a barrier to participating or applying and want to discuss this, please email us at culture@barnet.gov.uk using the subject line Community Heritage Grants and we'll be happy to assist.

A series of workshops and mentoring sessions will be offered to give an overview of the grant context and criteria, offer networking opportunity, and give support with application development and writing.