Four London venues awarded £15 million in National Lottery funds

Four London venues are sharing just over £15 million in funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Spanning historic buildings, natural landscapes, and globally important archives and collections, the projects will restore heritage places, support marine conservation, and create new opportunities to strengthen heritage skills, learning, and participation.

The largest award, of £6.7 million, has gone to Highgate Cemetery for its upgrade and refurbishment project. That project, costing a total of £18 million, will see a new cafe and education centre built, the chapel refurbished, and wider-ranging landscaping carried out to improve access.

The V&A Museum is getting £4 million towards the refurbishment of its South Asia gallery

Meanwhile, the Historic Royal Palaces have been awarded £4.5 million towards a new Learning and Community Centre in the Tower of London. The project will also improve accessibility, enhance the visitor experience, and boost environmental sustainability across the site.

And London Zoo has been granted development funding of £177,000 towards a conservation project that will bring young people, charter fishers and communities together to protect endangered sharks and rays while revealing the hidden natural heritage of the Greater Thames Estuary.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Each of these newly funded projects are exploring ways for young people to get involved, as well as offering quality apprenticeships and research opportunities for hands on experience, such as research to safeguard endangered sharks in the Thames Estuary. These initiatives show how heritage is empowering the next generation – building confidence, skills and connecting with the heritage that matters to them – from historic places to the natural world. Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re supporting ambitious projects that care and value heritage and give young people a voice to create lasting impact for communities across the UK.”