Grant funding is being made available to support heritage projects across Medway as part of the Medway Heritage Place project, in partnership with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Two funding schemes have been launched, with funding between £250 and £8,000 available through the Development Grant scheme, and between £15,000 and £30,000 through the Collaborative Heritage Project Grant scheme.
Applications for both are open from today (Thursday, 27 November 2025) and close on Sunday, 1 February 2026 at 11.59pm.
Successful projects must be delivered between 2 March 2026 and 2 October 2026. All unsuccessful applications will receive feedback.
The Medway Heritage Place project is part of a ten-year partnership with The National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of their Heritage Place initiative where up to 20 local places across the UK will benefit from £200million of investment. The initiative responds to local need and opportunity, supporting places to use heritage too build pride in place, inspire local communities and power regeneration.
Collaborative Heritage Project Grant
This scheme aims to bring established and smaller heritage organisations, groups and projects together. In order to be eligible, applications must bring at least two individuals, groups or organisations together to form a new partnership. In each partnership, at least one partner must be voluntary-led and one must have paid staff.
Heritage projects which apply to this scheme should have a strong local heritage focus, and engage or provide benefit to children and young people in Medway.
Development Grant
This scheme is open to organisations and individuals to support projects which are looking to expand their skills, pilot new approaches or ways of working, tell news stories, engage new audiences.
These projects should focus and celebrate and focus on at least one of the following: Medway’s high streets, town centres, houses and estates, parks and greenspaces, the River Medway or cultures and traditions.
Applicants without a track record of previous grant funding will be prioritised for this scheme.
You can only apply to one of schemes.
Two information and Q&A sessions will be taking place where you will have the chance to find out more and ask any questions you may have. Places must be booked in advance.
One-to-one advice and support sessions are available to help support applications and develop ideas. You can sign up here or by emailing HeritagePlace@Medway.gov.uk with ‘Advice and support’ in the subject line.
Take this opportunity
Cllr Nina Gurung, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Heritage, Culture and Leisure, said: “This partnership with The National Lottery Heritage Fund has already started to make an impact here in Medway. Following the success of the 23 projects we funded last year, I am really pleased we are able to announce that we are expanding the number of funding schemes, as well as the amount of funding available this year. It is really important that we are able to provide support at all levels, from grassroots initiatives up to established organisations – and this is exactly what this programme does. If you’ve had an idea bubbling away in the back of your mind, or you’re already working on something but just need that bit of extra support, I would encourage you to take this opportunity and get your application in.”
Bringing communities together
Stuart McLeod, Director of London and South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: "We’re delighted that the next round of grants for community heritage projects is now open for applications. The first round saw a fantastic range of Medway’s heritage celebrated and we’re looking forward to seeing what this next round brings. Heritage is a powerful tool for bringing communities together, creating opportunities and building pride in local places. We’re committed to working with partners including Medway Council through our Heritage Place initiative to transform heritage and culture in the Medway area over the next 10 years. We know that to deliver place-based change, we need to do this over a long period of time and with significant investment and projects like these are integral to making this a success.”
This latest funding round follows the success of last year’s Development Fund, which saw 23 community-led projects across Medway awarded grants totalling almost £115,000 as part of the Medway Heritage Place project. Successful projects included capturing the experiences of Medway’s migrant communities, volunteer-led work to install sea defences to halt erosion at Horrid Hill in Rainham, repair works on the historic vessel Motor Tug Kent, and much more.
One of the previous grant recipients, Joe Baden OBE, Founder of Open Film Project CIC, said: “We were thrilled to be given £7,000 to work with community members to co-design and produce a film exploring working class, post-war history and traditions in Medway. Participants have learned how to record oral histories and new film production skills. After living in Medway for over thirty years I’ve learned more about the area and the community I belong to through this project than I have after so many years as a resident. I’d encourage anyone who is thinking of applying to go for it!.”
The Medway Heritage Place programme is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to bring Medway’s stories to life in new ways for new audiences.