Heritage Lottery Fund: 'Young Roots' Grants
Specific Grant scheme (£3,000 to £25,000) aimed at involving young people
Programme Objectives
To qualify for a grant your project must either:
- Involve young people aged between 13 and 25 in the heritage:
- Relate to the varied heritage of the UK; and
- Be delivered through partnerships (see eligibility below)
All projects must also:
- Create new opportunities for young people to volunteer in heritage; or
- New opportunities for young people to gain skills in identifying, recording, interpreting or caring for heritage.
Eligibility
- Your project must be delivered by a partnership.Youth groups must work with at least one heritage partner to deliver the project. Heritage groups must work with at least one youth group (e.g community youth groups, local-authority youth groups and groups such as Guides, Scouts and Sea Cadets etc.)
Timetable
- This is a rolling funding programme.
- The HLF will normally make a decision within 10 weeks of receiving your completed application.
Criteria
- The grant request must be between £3,000 and £25,000.
- The organisation works with young people aged between 13 and 25
- Projects last up to 18 months.
- Some partnership funding towards the project is given either in cash or 'in kind', for example, time, materials, premises.
- HLF will look to see that the project is: relevant to the UK’s heritage; will meet the aims of the Young Roots programme; your project is well planned and your proposals for managing it are sound; your organisation is capable of carrying out the project; and your project is financially realistic.
Types of Project Funded
Northamptonshire Record Office - a grant of £14,500 to explore slavery past and present. For details of how the Record Office developed their project see the attached Q&A.
Further case studies are available on HLF website
Application/Contact Details
HLF no longer have specific Young Roots Co-ordinators but pre-application advice is available in the usual way from regional or country teams
Corporate Office Address:
7 Holbein Place, London, SW1W 8NR
Tel: 020 7591 6000
For contact details for the Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland Offices, and the nine English regional teams click here. Much more information about the Heritage Lottery Fund, the grant schemes and previous grants awarded can be found on the website - www.hlf.org.uk.
Notes and Comments
- This scheme has not had as much take up with the archive sector.
- HLF have produced a Young Roots Model of Practice (also available in Welsh)
- HLF have produced an evaluation report on the scheme

