The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is opening a public consultation on its funding priorities for the future as it looks forward to annual awards budgets of around £300m.

The funder, which will have expanded budgets for the funding years in question, 2013 – 2019, has a three-pronged approach to the public consultation.

It will open an online consultation to the public for comments on its funding priorities and what the HLF should continue to do or do differently. Meanwhile, the organisation will also pool together representatives specifically from heritage and community organisations for their input on the above and a range of topics, including how the HLF might respond to climate change or engage in the digital sphere.

Local communities will also be engaged in the three-month long process, which will run until late April, via a series of local events designed to canvass the views of smaller communities and individuals.

Dame Jenny Abramsky, chair of the HLF, said that the consultation is a “great opportunity” for improving funding and that well-funded heritage organisations could be pivotal to economy recovery.

“In future, heritage organisations will need to become even more deeply rooted locally, sustained by a combination of volunteering, local ownership and income generation – alongside continued public investment and private philanthropy. HLF wants to encourage this to build a strong and resilient heritage sector in the future,” she said.

“This is a chance to shape that future.”