About Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
HLF was set up by Parliament in 1994 to give grants to a wide range of projects involving the local, regional and national heritage of the United Kingdom. It distributes a share of the money raised by the National Lottery for Good Causes.
The HLF is the UK’s leading funder of our diverse heritage and the only heritage organisation that operates both across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and funds the entire spread of heritage – including buildings, museums, natural heritage and the heritage of cultural traditions and language. So far as parks and green space are concerned the HLF offer two main streams of funding that cover small to large scale projects: Your Heritage awards grants of £5000 to £50,000 and Parks for People offers grants of £250,000 to £5million. Click here if you would like to find out more about Your Heritage grants. Read on for more information about Parks for People.
To find out about all of the HLF’s grant giving programmes click here.
To download recent HLF publications covering a range of related issues, click here.
The individual park and open space questionnaire is at the heart of the GreenSTAT system and was born out of HLF research to assess the impacts of park improvement projects. The GreenSTAT system has been developed further by GreenSpace to include a service questionnaire and other functions. It is now being used by numerous authorities throughout the UK to compare the perception of their parks with others and to assist them in developing better strategies for future park management and maintenance.
High quality local environments can make a real difference to people’s lives, encouraging communities to take pride in their local area. Attractive and safe parks contribute greatly to this, providing both social and environmental benefits. Their attributes are unique in bringing together young and old in a space designed by nature catering for any age group. There is a flipside to this however. Run down parks can blight communities, negatively affecting the lives of local people. They can become no-go areas creating communities deprived of the space they need.
The Parks for People programme seeks to restore parks at the heart of thriving local communities, transforming the way people think about themselves, their identity and their heritage.
A brief outline of the programme
As an HLF applicant you can choose to subscribe to the GreenSTAT system for an annual fee, which provides you with the benefits of using the website and online database with its data analysis functions. You can include some of the costs of subscribing to GreenSTAT in your application.
Alternatively you can have free access to a PDF version of the park and open space questionnaire that the GreenSTAT system uses and a copy of the guidance on visitor surveys and the use of this questionnaire are available to help you.
Click here to download a copy of the guidance on the use of the Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People standard visitor survey questionnaire.
Click here to download a pdf version of the parks and open space questionnaire (self-completion version)
Click here to download a pdf version of the parks and open space questionnaire (on-site interview version)
Click here to download a pdf version of the parks and open space questionnaire (off-site interview version)
Prior to being awarded a grant, applicants to the PFP programme are required to undertake more accurate assessments of visitor numbers. As increasing visitor numbers is an important aim of restoration projects, it is important that reasonably accurate baseline data is collected. The increased number of visitors that is an inevitable consequence of park restorations is one of the most tangible proofs of the value of the project and the HLF investment. One way of accurately estimating visitor numbers is to use automated electronic devices, and to help understand the potential of these devices GreenSpace has produced a useful guide.
Click here to download the guide to automated methods for counting visitors to parks and green spaces.
Click here to find out more about GreenSTAT.
Funding for parks in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will offer the same wider opportunities, and use the same assessment priorities and processes as in England, but only HLF will make the grant awards. Return to top
Pre-application advice form (pdf file 421 KB)
Or click here to access the main application form.
Application form (pdf file 470 KB)
Guidance Notes (pdf file 532 KB)
The HLF is the UK’s leading funder of our diverse heritage and the only heritage organisation that operates both across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and funds the entire spread of heritage – including buildings, museums, natural heritage and the heritage of cultural traditions and language. So far as parks and green space are concerned the HLF offer two main streams of funding that cover small to large scale projects: Your Heritage awards grants of £5000 to £50,000 and Parks for People offers grants of £250,000 to £5million. Click here if you would like to find out more about Your Heritage grants. Read on for more information about Parks for People.
To find out about all of the HLF’s grant giving programmes click here.
To download recent HLF publications covering a range of related issues, click here.
GreenSpace and the HLF
The HLF originally funded the Community Network which is the first free support network for community groups and friends of groups who work with parks and green spaces across the whole of the UK. Its involvement then extended to funding the ParkIt! events programme where GreenSpace provides support to the organisation of 12 events across the summer around the UK. To find out more about ParkIt! click here.The individual park and open space questionnaire is at the heart of the GreenSTAT system and was born out of HLF research to assess the impacts of park improvement projects. The GreenSTAT system has been developed further by GreenSpace to include a service questionnaire and other functions. It is now being used by numerous authorities throughout the UK to compare the perception of their parks with others and to assist them in developing better strategies for future park management and maintenance.
Parks for People
Funding through the Urban Parks Programme and then Public Parks Initiative has delivered in excess of £500M to parks and green spaces around the UK. The Parks for People funding programme offers grants between £250,000 and £5million. Our aim for this programme is that every community should have access to a well designed public park maintained to Green Flag Award standards; have opportunities to learn about the heritage value of their park and to take an active part in managing and using the park.High quality local environments can make a real difference to people’s lives, encouraging communities to take pride in their local area. Attractive and safe parks contribute greatly to this, providing both social and environmental benefits. Their attributes are unique in bringing together young and old in a space designed by nature catering for any age group. There is a flipside to this however. Run down parks can blight communities, negatively affecting the lives of local people. They can become no-go areas creating communities deprived of the space they need.
The Parks for People programme seeks to restore parks at the heart of thriving local communities, transforming the way people think about themselves, their identity and their heritage.
A brief outline of the programme
Parks for People & GreenSTAT
The park and open space questionnaire, part of the GreenSTAT system, was developed specifically for Parks for People. GreenSTAT, the new visitor evaluation and benchmarking system from GreenSpace, is integrated into the new criteria for the programme to provide both baseline data for the “audience development plan” and monitoring data for the “measuring success” elements of HLF project delivery.As an HLF applicant you can choose to subscribe to the GreenSTAT system for an annual fee, which provides you with the benefits of using the website and online database with its data analysis functions. You can include some of the costs of subscribing to GreenSTAT in your application.
Alternatively you can have free access to a PDF version of the park and open space questionnaire that the GreenSTAT system uses and a copy of the guidance on visitor surveys and the use of this questionnaire are available to help you.
Click here to download a copy of the guidance on the use of the Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People standard visitor survey questionnaire.
Click here to download a pdf version of the parks and open space questionnaire (self-completion version)
Click here to download a pdf version of the parks and open space questionnaire (on-site interview version)
Click here to download a pdf version of the parks and open space questionnaire (off-site interview version)
Prior to being awarded a grant, applicants to the PFP programme are required to undertake more accurate assessments of visitor numbers. As increasing visitor numbers is an important aim of restoration projects, it is important that reasonably accurate baseline data is collected. The increased number of visitors that is an inevitable consequence of park restorations is one of the most tangible proofs of the value of the project and the HLF investment. One way of accurately estimating visitor numbers is to use automated electronic devices, and to help understand the potential of these devices GreenSpace has produced a useful guide.
Click here to download the guide to automated methods for counting visitors to parks and green spaces.
Click here to find out more about GreenSTAT.
Funding
Grants of between £250,000 and £5 million are available for projects involving urban or rural green spaces designed for informal recreation and enjoyment and will usually be owned and managed by a local authority. Applications are also welcome from other not-for-profit organisations that own public parks. The following criteria need to be met for consideration:- the community values the park as part of their heritage;
- the park meets local social, economic and environmental needs; and
- the park actively involves local people.
- increase the range of audiences;
- conserve and improve heritage value;
- increase the range of volunteers involved;
- improve skills and knowledge through training; and
- improve management and maintenance.
Funding for parks in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will offer the same wider opportunities, and use the same assessment priorities and processes as in England, but only HLF will make the grant awards. Return to top
Applying
You can complete a simple pre-application form as soon as you start thinking about a parks project so that HLF can provide information and advice to assist you.Pre-application advice form (pdf file 421 KB)
Or click here to access the main application form.
Application form (pdf file 470 KB)
Guidance Notes (pdf file 532 KB)