Heritage funding being made available to local organisations in North East Lincolnshire

“Heritage Starter” grants of up to £10,000 are being made available to local organisations to support heritage projects, small and large.

At the end of last year, the Council secured £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support heritage projects across North East Lincolnshire. Council Officers have been working in partnership with Heritage Lincolnshire to develop a new Heritage Network for North East Lincolnshire who have helped develop the ‘Heritage Starter’ grants to enable community organisations to access funds to explore local heritage.

Applications are now being sought for local projects, with a value of between £500 and £10,000, to come forward for consideration, with up to 100% of funding for projects available.

Over the next two years, the project aims to encourage people from North East Lincolnshire and beyond to consider what they know, or think they know, of North East Lincolnshire, its people and how North East Lincolnshire has been shaped the world. In order to be considered for funding, the projects must concentrate on enabling community engagement and activity. This could be development work on a project or research idea, funded expertise from a professional or to complete a specific aim e.g., to formalise an organisation with a governance model and/or bank account.  In particular, the scheme is looking for ideas that can be upscaled and taken forward as a larger project, eligible for further direct funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF).

Examples of projects could include:

  • Exploring Grimsby’s maritime history and relationship with the sea from ancient times to the recent development of the offshore wind industry
  • Celebrating the area’s musical heritage, such as Rod Temperton and Bernie Taupin
  • Continuing to tell the story of Immingham’s Pilgrim Fathers
  • Encouraging the creative short-term use of heritage buildings
  • Exploring how Grimsby’s international trading networks have shaped the world
  • Sharing memories of good times at venues such as Cleethorpes Pier, which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2023
  • Exploring our relationship with the natural environment in the Wolds and on the coast.

The ‘Heritage Starter Fund’ has been made possible by National Lottery players and aims to widen audiences for heritage and to ensure that heritage plays a key role in helping communities recover from the impacts of COVID19.  North East Lincolnshire was selected for a grant, as an Area of Focus for National Lottery Heritage Fund as an area of low heritage investment and high levels of deprivation.

The grant will be used to assist groups with an interest in heritage to access a community grants programme to help them develop their heritage capacity, expertise and experience.

Cllr Callum Procter, Cabinet member for heritage, said: “This project will help provide community groups and organisations with a foot on the ladder in terms of accessing money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This will complement the work we’re doing with Grimsby Creates, Heritage Action Zone and Cleethorpes Townscape initiatives over the next few years, encouraging creative development in and around Grimsby. We have a really rich history in North East Lincolnshire, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we can make the most of it, involving local people along the way, and helping them take pride in their own history and heritage.”

David Renwick, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “North East Lincolnshire is home to incredibly varied and fascinating heritage, but in recent years the area has not received the funding to showcase these stories more widely. Here at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’re committing to ensuring those areas, like North East Lincolnshire, who are home to such rich heritage but have not benefitted from high levels of investment are given the opportunity to use their stories to bring communities together, play a significant role in boosting the local economy and instil a real sense of pride of place for people. We’re delighted, that thanks to National Lottery players, we can fund this project to unlock the wealth of heritage that North East Lincolnshire holds and allow enable its communities to truly connect with it and safeguard it for future generations.”

The North East Lincolnshire Heritage Network has been meeting since April this year and will hold it’s first ‘in-person’ meeting at Grimsby Minster on 22nd September.  Gail Graham, Senior Manager at Heritage Lincolnshire said, “ We’ve around 70 individuals and organisations signed up to the Network now and it’s growing all the time.  More recent discussions have focused on developing projects for the Heritage Starter Fund and there are lots of exciting ideas in the pipeline. I look forward to seeing a wide variety of North East Lincolnshire heritage being highlighted as a result of this funding.”

To find out further information about the NEL Heritage  Network and access the application form for these grants, visit the North East Lincolnshire’s Heritage Network on Heritage Lincolnshire’s website.