Barnet Council has secured a £250,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support its vision for a year of culture events featuring music, performance, arts and heritage.
The grant adds to the funding already secured by the council, including a £200,000 Cultural Impact Award from the Greater Londen Authority and £100,000 from Arts Council England, which will be invested in putting Barnet on the capital’s cultural map.
The money will bring to life plans for a 12-month programme of artistic and heritage projects, which will see residents and local communities invited to get involved with celebrating the uniqueness of the London Borough of Barnet.
Taking place throughout 2026, the programme will comprise several major projects and a Community Heritage Fund for community groups to bid for. The culmination of the programme will be in November 2026 with a free arts and heritage festival featuring events in the borough’s town centres, including music, performance and the launch of a major artistic commission.
Cllr Anne Clarke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, Arts & Sport, welcomed the award from the Heritage Fund:
“This £250,000 of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund will ensure we have the resources to put on a spectacular programme of cultural events that will bring together our communities to celebrate our heritage and the best of what makes Barnet unique. It will also help to put Barnet on the capital’s cultural map and be a huge boost for our creative economy.
“The festival will be a powerful, inclusive platform for cultural exchange, unity and imagination, bringing together diverse voices and fostering the pioneers of tomorrow.”
Stuart McLeod, Director of England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We’re delighted to support Barnet’s year of culture, a celebration of the borough’s rich and diverse heritage. At the Heritage Fund, we believe in the power of heritage to bring communities together, inspire creativity, and foster pride in place. Thanks to National Lottery players, this year-long programme will epitomise this, helping people across Barnet connect with the fascinating heritage on their doorstep.”
Notes for editors
In March 2024, Barnet Council received £200,000 in funding to launch a new festival in the borough thanks to winning a Mayor of London Cultural Impact Award: Barnet wins Mayor of London’s £200,000 Cultural Impact Award for Light & Flight festival | Barnet Council
To find out more about arts and culture across the borough please visit https://www.barnet.gov.uk/community/arts-and-culture
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
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