
Heritage for All Fund
Purpose of Surrey Heritage for All Fund
Surrey Cultural Partnership and the Community Foundation for Surrey (CFSurrey), with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, have launched a new funding programme. Organisations can apply for grants of up to £10,000 to increase opportunities for diverse communities to engage with Surrey’s rich heritage and natural environment. The fund aims to conserve, share, and celebrate Surrey’s tangible and intangible heritage, enriching lives and strengthening communities.
The grants will all contribute to helping a wider range of people benefit from and engage with heritage in Surrey, as well as helping preserve our heritage for the future and making organisations that look after heritage more sustainable. We aim to reach and support small organisations who may not have successfully applied for grants before.
The fund is being set up as part of the response to Surprising Surrey (SS), the county’s cultural strategy. It will be delivered in partnership between Surrey Cultural Partnership (SCP) who commissioned the strategy and CFSurrey who give over £2m a year in grants to support those most in need in Surrey.
This funding supports community groups, charities, and other members of the VCSE sector but not the public sector or private companies. See eligibility criteria.
For funding priorities and how to apply see here.
We are pleased to be supported by Surrey History Centre (the county records office) and Surrey Museums Group who will help ensure that any heritage assets created through this project have appropriate long-term arrangements for their preservation and storage. The same organisations, and other members of Surrey Cultural Partnership have also agreed to make their heritage collections and archives available to community groups wishing to apply for grants to deliver projects through this programme.
We hope that the projects funded will create a broader audience for heritage in Surrey, with people from varied backgrounds being involved. The programme will demonstrate to future potential donors and to those commissioning and delivering well-being and health programmes within Surrey (Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise sectors) how beneficial heritage projects can be in improving people’s quality of life.
Round 1 and 2
- Grants of up to £10k to support engagement with heritage in Surrey.
- Round 1 Open for EoI April 2025 for Award in Sept
- Round 2 Open for EoI July 2025 for award in Jan 2026
Note on Heritage
The heritage focus of this grant funding is the heritage assets of Surrey. This includes over 40 museums and galleries, 6000 listed buildings (105 Grade 1 listed), 200 conservation areas, 25 sites on Historic England’s At Risk register, over 60 SSSIs and a 160 square mile AONB. This is underscored by the area’s historic significance as a 17th-century centre for wool and gunpowder production, the site of the signing of the Magna Carta, Hampton Court Palace and the UK’s first purpose-built Mosque. Such assets are cared for by a wide variety of organisations, most being independent charities or societies with 75% of the museums being independent and volunteer-run.
The area’s heritage faces a plethora of risks. These relate to the physical state of buildings, heritage sites and items in collections; alongside cultural traditions, oral histories and community stories being lost. The purpose of this funding is to support organisations to increase opportunities for a diverse range of people to engage with, conserve, share and utilise Surrey’s tangible and intangible heritage, and natural environment, to enrich people’s lives and our community.
Interested in becoming a donor?
To enquire about becoming a donor, please email us at giving@cfsurrey.org.uk
If you wish to speak to one of our team:
Contact Amy Lee, Fund Development Manager
01483 906383, amy@cfsurrey.org.uk