The Heritage Lottery Fund is helping communities throughout the United Kingdom to protect and open up their countryside, parks and gardens and to make vital contributions to nature conservation.

We particularly want to encourage projects involving land and countryside that is of outstanding importance, especially where this is at risk. We also encourage strategic projects that aim to improve a whole area or a particular type of landscape.

We can make grants to buy, conserve and manage land of importance for its scenery, history, wildlife, cultural, or local value. We normally look to see whether the land is `designated` (for example, as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), but we can also support other types of land and countryside, especially that of local importance.

Wherever possible we want more people to be able to enjoy our land and countryside, and understand more about it. We particularly want our grants to enable better access for disabled people. Of course, it is vitally important that the countryside is protected for future generations to enjoy, so applicants must ensure an appropriate balance between conservation and access.

We also make grants for historic parks, gardens and other urban green spaces. We can help to restore, regenerate and improve access to these important sites, and ensure that they continue to be enjoyed by everyone, especially their local communities. We particularly want our grants for urban parks to help contribute to the regeneration of deprived areas.

The good news is that we have already funded over £510 million to more than 1,600 projects for countryside, parks and gardens.