Heritage for All: New Ways to Explore, Share and Shape Surrey's Heritage
From intergenerational music-making to Shakespeare and outdoor learning, the first round of Heritage for All projects is creating new opportunities for communities across Surrey.
In October 2025, Community Foundation for Surrey (CFSurrey) distributed the inaugural round of funding for its Heritage for All Fund, totalling £89,874 across 11 organisations. The Fund was developed alongside Surrey Cultural Partnership, with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Following a year of activity, the funded organisations are now sharing the impact and achievements of their projects.
The aim was to widen access to Surrey’s local heritage, with an eye towards funding smaller organisations committed to removing barriers and harnessing the power of local heritage to engage a wider range of Surrey residents.
If you thought heritage was primarily to do with historic buildings and landscapes, these eleven funded projects might have you think again.
Intergenerational Music Making CIC (IMM) was awarded £7,000 to support Shared Intergenerational Roots, a programme using music, storytelling, local history, nature and shared creative activity to bring younger and older generations together. IMM describes how, at Kettlewell House in Woking, a shared song was the key to engaging an older resident living with dementia, as she sang in harmony with a young participant from The Halow Project. The woman’s daughter, who was present for the visit, shared that her mother had formerly been a singer. IMM says that the activity “provided a route into the resident's memory, cultural identity and personal history, revealing something about her life that dementia had made difficult to communicate in other ways.”
At the heart of IMM's programme is the belief that heritage belongs to everyone, and everyone has something to contribute. It's a theme that emerges across many of the funded projects. In this spirit, Books Beyond Words used their £10,000 award to create and distribute a picture book celebrating the joy of walking in Surrey’s natural landscape—co-authored with local participants who have learning disabilities.
‘A Walk with Friends’, which is now available both in Surrey and nationally, allows readers with disabilities to see characters like themselves participating in nature and community life and encourages them to get involved in both outdoor and creative activities.
New Ashgate Gallery received £10,000 for Surrey Craft Legacies, a project celebrating and preserving traditional and endangered craft skills. Through hands-on community workshops, oral-history films and a free exhibition featuring 18 makers, the project brought Surrey's craft heritage to life for new audiences.
The exhibition at New Ashgate Gallery attracted 1,469 visitors, while participants had the opportunity to see their own creations displayed alongside the work of professional craftspeople.
The impact of Heritage for All was not just about having access to a new place or history, but rather, how experiencing heritage in a new way gave participants the space to explore, play, and reflect. Delight’s Shakespeare programme brought young people into the world of Macbeth through a powerful production and Q&A session, followed by the chance for students to recreate their own. Meanwhile, Painshill Park Trust utilised their grant to launch the Educational Access Fund, providing a comprehensive outdoor education programme that encourages learning beyond the classroom. Whether on stage or in a green open space, these programmes provided ways for young people to engage differently than they might in the classroom: learning through practical exploration, preparing to deliver a soliloquy, or helping to lead a bug hunt.
In both cases, educators and parents noted increased levels of confidence and improved self-esteem in young people who were usually quiet or hard to reach. One teacher involved in Delight's programme recalled a particularly memorable performance by a student who was normally so quiet in class that she rarely heard him speak. Taking on the role of Macduff, he delivered his lines with such confidence that his father, watching a recording of the performance, could hardly believe it was his son. His surprise and pride, echoed by the teacher, speak to the significance of these heritage experiences in giving young people opportunities to discover their capabilities and take the lead in ways they might not otherwise have imagined.
From shared songs and stories to Shakespeare performances and outdoor exploration, the first round of Heritage for All has demonstrated the many ways Surrey residents can connect with their local heritage and make it their own. CFSurrey is grateful to Surrey Cultural Partnership, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the eleven funded organisations for their contributions towards making Surrey's heritage more accessible, inclusive, and representative of the communities it belongs to.
To find out more about Heritage for All including contact details for the Programme Manager please see our website.