The Heritage Lottery Fund has witnessed an “absolute explosion” in funding applications, just as local government cuts funding to local heritage projects, and the Heritage Lottery Fund deals with its unexpected windfall in Lottery funds.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) programmes are now three to four times oversubscribed. This level of demand is unprecedented in the history of the HLF, its chief executive Carole Souter told the Action Planning Funding Roadshow conference today.
“I have never known a level of competition like it,” said Souter.
This increased interest follows the announcement earlier this year that the HLF will receive a far larger proportion of lottery income.
Souter added that the funder is looking to implement a small grants programme (£3,000 – £10,000) and will be considering changes to increase its single round application programme above the current limit of £50,000, the upper threshold still to be agreed.
The Heritage Lottery as a whole will receive 20 per cent of Lottery funds, resulting in at least £300m a year to give away from 2012-13 onwards. It had budgeted for £180m.
