This programme will award 21 grants, each for £15,000, to charities, community groups, Community Interest Companies and local authorities in England that are working with underrepresented and disadvantaged communities to use heritage as a way of shaping the future of their local area.
Neighbourhood Heritage: Grants for Communities is a new grant programme from Historic England that supports communities to use heritage as a way of shaping the future of their local places.
Historic England is interested in funding projects that will discover what people value about their neighbourhoods while improving how heritage can help communities to participate in shaping local change.
Successful applicants will support communities to use heritage as a way of shaping the future of their local places. Eligible heritage projects can include buildings, places, and sites that are locally significant; they do not need to be listed by Historic England.
Projects must be co-created, working with underrepresented communities and located within the top 30% most deprived neighbourhoods in England, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2025. Underrepresented communities include:
- Communities experiencing barriers to participation in local planning, regeneration or civic processes
- Communities experiencing socio-economic disadvantage
- Communities who are less likely to participate in heritage activity
- Disabled people
- LGBTQ+ communities
- Minority ethnic communities, and
- Neurodivergent people
The application deadline is 23:59 on Friday 27 November 2026. Decisions on funded proposals are expected to be announced by Monday 1 February 2027. Funded projects must be completed by Friday 11 August 2028.
Further information, guidance and an application form can be found on the Historic England website. Applications must be submitted by email.