NEWS that Leicester is to receive initial funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Places programme has been welcomed by the city council.
Thanks to National Lottery players, Leicester will have access to an initial grant of £250,000, which will allow the council and community partners to develop the first stage of an Inclusive Heritage programme for the city.
The long-term project will aim to give a voice to all of Leicester’s diverse communities, ensuring that everyone in Leicester feels involved in, and represented by, the cultural activity and heritage initiatives that take place in the city.
With just 80% of adults in Leicester currently actively participating in cultural and creative activity, compared to the national average of 90%, research partner The Audience Agency will now run extensive consultation with local stakeholders and communities to establish where engagement with heritage activities is low and to collect evidence that will help shape a long-term plan for more inclusive programming. Key to this will be 10 locally-recruited community heritage researchers, whose outreach work within communities will gather new perspectives that will help inform the next stage of the project.
The funding will also allow the council to appoint a part-time programme manager who will coordinate the project over the next two years.
Once a plan has been agreed and developed, further funding will be applied for from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support Leicester’s Inclusive Heritage programme until 2033.
Assistant city mayor for culture Cllr Vi Dempster – who will chair the project’s steering group – said: “Much work has been done in recent years to tell the stories of those who typically don’t engage with heritage initiatives, but this Heritage Places funding gives us an opportunity to build on that and ensure that in a city as culturally-diverse as Leicester, the lives and interests of all of its people are properly represented.
“Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to reach out to our communities and ask what heritage means to them. And that could include traditions that now risk being lost, or a way of life that might be forgotten - or maybe stories relating to fashion, food, music or other aspects of everyday life.
“The research we do in stage one of this project will help identify the celebrations, exhibitions, events or other community-led heritage initiatives that could feature in the second stage funding application.
“By engaging with all of Leicester’s diverse communities and listening to their stories, we aim to make sure that inclusivity is at the heart of the city’s heritage initiatives.”
Robyn Llewellyn, Area Director, England, Midlands & East at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: "We are delighted to support Leicester City Council with £250,000 to begin developing heritage programming that involves and includes Leicester’s diverse communities. We're supporting partnerships in Leicester, one of our Heritage Places, to unlock the possibilities of this city’s heritage. Their ambitions show how heritage can be a powerful force to bring people together and inspire pride in place.”
Designed to boost local economies and local pride by unlocking the potential of local history and heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Places initiative aims to transform 20 places around the UK by 2033, using a dedicated funding pot of £200million.
Leicester was one of the first Heritage Places to be announced in October 2023.
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About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
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About The Audience Agency
The Audience Agency is an independent research and development organisation whose purpose is to enable a thriving, people-centred cultural sector. We provide research, insight, data-tools and other services, which help our network of clients and stakeholders adapt for, and with, their communities.