About Us
Children enjoying a Punch and Judy display at Hastings Museum. Photo Kois Miah

Impact of our funding 

Most of our research looks into the question of what the benefits of the projects and programmes that we fund have been. Across our various programmes there are many different types of benefit, so the research uses a range of approaches and techniques. 

For the Heritage Grants and Your Heritage programmes, our current evaluation projects are:
  • Assessments of how well our funding has improved the condition of heritage and how it is being conserved for the future.
  • Research into completed projects to establish how people are involved in HLF funded projects – the activities that projects put on, the participation of volunteers, training and the extent to which people are visiting the heritage we’ve funded.
  • This is visitor research, carried out at heritage attractions that have received HLF funding, and used to gauge the reaction and response of visitors to the improvements that have been made.
  • This research is carried out in a similar way to the visitor surveys, but involves talking to local residents about their perceptions of how HLF funded projects have made a difference to the places where they live, and to their own quality of life.
  • Heritage projects can have substantial impacts on local and regional economies. This work explores the scale and extent of the economic benefits delivered by completed HLF projects.
  • What difference does involvement in a heritage project make, both for individuals and the communities where they live? This research uses a mix of research types to look at these questions in detail.

Our targeted programmes

We also have evaluations of all the targeted programmes and initiatives that we run, assessing the benefits and impacts that each of these delivers. Research has been undertaken for the following programmes.

Details on research undertaken before 2004 can be obtained by contacting the research team research@hlf.org.uk.