Brits are fascinated with the lottery putting in a ticket in the game in the hopes of scooping one of the fantastic prizes is one of the greatest traditions around. But when you play the UK Lotto, aside from the excitement of being part of the game, you are also making a contribution to the development of the British cultural heritage. The Heritage Lottery Fund in the National Lottery has had some amazing project over the years that have greatly benefited the cultural evolution of the country. In this article, we are going to tell you about some of these projects that have truly made a difference.
Royal Museum Greenwich
One of the most beloved museums in the whole of UK has received a £5 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a brand-new project that is underway. The Endeavor Galleries project will be developed over the span of three years and it will feature as many as four new galleries in the West Wing of the National Maritime Museum. This new project is meant as an immense ode to exploration, which can make it accessible to people of all ages.
The main themes are the Pacific exploration, the Polar exploration, the Tudor and Stuart seafarers, and the biggest and the best of the museum’s collections, and each of them will be set in one of the four new galleries. The project is set to be completed in 2018, just in time for the commemoration of Lieutenant James Cook’s departure on his first Pacific exploration voyage.
The Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red Exhibition
This Heritage Lottery Fund project is a unique memorial for the victims of WWI. The Wave and Weeping Willow installation is part of the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red project and it features 888,246 poppies which represent the 888,246 colonial lives that were lost during the war.
The first display of the poppy installation was held at the Tower of London, and then it featured a tour across the UK. It has been displayed in as many as 13 locations and it has been viewed by over 3 million people. In 2018, the installation will be displayed in numerous places, including Hereford Cathedral, the Royal Armouries in Fort Nelson, and Carlisle Castle.
Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark is a gem of the Royal fleet. The might ship was owned by the British East India Company and it has sailed the waters between China and the UK from 1869 up until 1877. Then the ship was used for more than 20 years for wool transports from Australia. In 2007 disaster struck and Cutty Stark burned down, thus an important element of British culture was lost.
But thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cutty Sark has risen from the ashes as a state of the art museum. The costs for this bold project amounted to £22.75 million, which is just as much as a lottery jackpot, but the result was absolutely staggering. The museum opened its gates in 2012 and it has been filled with visitors ever since.
Millennium Bridge
This state of the art steel bridge links London to Bankside and it was built over the River Thames. Millennium Bridge is located between Blackfriars Railway Bridge and Southwark Bridge and it was meant for pedestrians only. This is one of the most recent projects of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the public appeal was immense.
However, the bridge has earned itself a rather odd nickname because of a construction malfunction. It is now known among Londoners as Wobbly Bridge because on the day of its inauguration, it began wobbling quite a bit as the people were walking on it. Since then, the bridge was secured and it is now a true London landmark.
The Royal Academy of Arts
When visiting London, the Royal Academy of Arts is a must on any itinerary. And as of 2018, this timeless landmark will be brought into the 21st century via the “Reveal, Celebrate, and Explore” project funded by the National Lottery. The Heritage Fund has donated as much as £12.7 million for this project, which will digitalize the Royal Academy of Arts. It is set to be completed in 2018 and it will bring up new areas in the museum.
This fantastic project will also feature the restoration of numerous historic sites and it is among the most anticipated openings of the year to come. But this is not the only time that the lottery has been involved in the development of the Royal Academy of Arts. In fact, the museum was built thanks to a lottery organized by the British Parliament.
