Consultation on the Heritage Lottery
Fund’s Strategic Framework for 2013-2019
Comments by
Northern Ireland Environment Link
26th April 2011
Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) is the networking and forum body for non-statutory
organisations concerned with the environment of Northern Ireland. Its 55 Full Members
represent over 90,000 individuals, 262 subsidiary groups, have an annual turnover of £70
million and manage over 314,000 acres of land. Members are involved in environmental
issues of all types and at all levels from the local community to the global environment. NIEL
brings together a wide range of knowledge, experience and expertise which can be used to
help develop policy, practice and implementation across a wide range of environmental
fields.
These comments are agreed by Members, but some members may be providing
independent comments as well. If you would like to discuss these comments further we
would be delighted to do so.
Prof Sue Christie, Director
Northern Ireland Environment Link
89 Loopland Drive
Belfast, BT6 9DW
P: 028 9045 5770
E: Sue@nienvironmentlink.org
W: www.nienvironmentlink.org
Northern Ireland Environment Link is a Company limited by guarantee No NI034988 and a
Charity registered with Inland Revenue No XR19598
This is an online survey being run by Opinion Leader, the final response will be entered by 26th April.
The answers have been highlighted in red for ticked answers.
Please indicate below which sections you wish to respond to:
Section 1- Our strategic framework and how we work Section 2- Our current grant programmes
Section 3- New opportunities and challenges
All sections

Name Sue Christie
Organisation: Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL)
Job title CEO
Address 89 Loopland Dr Belfast
Postcode BT6 9DW
Telephone 90455770
Email sue@nienvironmentlink.org
How are you responding to this consultation (please tick one)
As an individual
As an individual or group on behalf of an organisation
As an individual or group on behalf of a group of organisations

Section 1
To what extent do you agree or disagree we should express our current three strategic aims of
conservation, participation and learning as a single aim in future- “making a positive and lasting
difference for heritage and people”?
Strongly Agree
Tend to Agree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
Tend to disagree

Don’t Know
strongly disagree
No opinion
Why do you say that? We believe that this new strategic aim sufficiently combines all three
elements (conservation, participation and learning) and we recognise that all three of these
elements are interlinked within heritage. Therefore one strategic aim would be practical.
To what extent do you agree or disagree that we should target more funds to identified strategic
needs and reduce the amount of funding available through open programmes?
Strongly Agree
Tend to disagree
Tend to Agree
Strongly disagree

Neither agrees nor disagrees
Don’t Know
No opinion
Why do you say that? The UK economically is facing scheduled cuts over the next four years. We
believe that funding should be targeted at strategic needs or priorities as it will produce a cross
check balancing system. We do however also see the benefit on having an open funding programme
to allow for individuality and creativity.
To what extent do you agree we should solicit applications more frequently, in order to focus our
funding on strategic priorities for heritage?
Strongly Agree
Tend to disagree
Tend to Agree 
Strongly disagree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
No opinion
Don’t Know
Why do you say that? More frequent deadlines encourages and enables organisations to access
funding more easily and in greater cohesion with their funding needs. However, this needs to be
balanced with the need to assess applications for a limited pot of money competitively, so a small
number of deadlines annually (4 – 6) is preferable to either one or no deadlines.
To what extent do you agree we should give priority to funding for heritage identified as
being at risk?
Strongly Agree
Tend to Agree
Neither agrees nor disagrees

Tend to disagree
Don’t Know
Strongly disagree
No opinion
Why do you say that? By definition heritage at risk is that most urgently in need of action, and it
may be that only HLF funding will secure it. However, there is also a need to support more general
projects aimed at wider objectives so not all funding should be aimed at ‘at risk’ targets. We believe
strongly in the renovation of existing buildings especially listed and vernacular. These buildings can
be of value to stimulate local areas and supporting the local economy. We do urge that the whole
life costing (including embodied energy) needs to be considered when deciding to renovate or
rebuild a property but that creative solutions (for example cross sectoral partnerships or targeted
incentives) are developed to bring the buildings on the “At Risk” register (BHARNI) back in use.
Taking account of the achievements of Lottery funding since 2002 (see annex), what areas of
heritage (if any) do you consider to be still in need of funding?
Heritage
Area
No
funding
need
Archaeology
Archives
Cultures and memories, languages and
dialects
Historic buildings and monuments
Industrial heritage
Landscapes
Library collections
Museums and collections
Parks
Places of worship
Ships and maritime heritage
Transport heritage
Wildlife and nature conservation
Some
Funding
need
Significant
Funding
need

Don’t
Know












Why do you say that? We believe from looking at the project numbers and figures in money there is
a significant gap within the wildlife and nature conservation funding. As £525 million was spent on
historic public parks out of the £935 million spent on wildlife and conservation. Protection of our
native species is crucial as extinction of plants and animals is a increasing worldwide problem. We
strongly believe that aspects of heritage need funding as it represents who we have been in the past
and who we are in the present contexts, therefore archaeology, historic buildings/monuments and
maritime heritage need funding to in order for it to be present for future generations.
How important are the following aspects of how we currently work as a Lottery funder?
A. Working closely with organisations and responding to needs at local level as well as
operating within a UK-wide strategic framework
B. Providing support (as described) to applicants and grantees throughout the grant
administration process
C. Giving locally-based help to organisations less experienced in making applications
Essential Very important
A, B, C
Not at all important
Fairly important
No opinion
Not very important
Don’t know
Why do you say that? In harder economic times it is imperative that funding bodies help
organisations that are less experienced to produce an application and provide support through the
administration process. We believe by giving additional support it will help improve organisations’
chances of securing funding and delivering a better eventual project. The amount of time and
resources that organisations spend in preparing applications is considerable and there should be
targeted support to ensure that nugatory effort is minimised through assistance to develop projects
that have the best chance of delivering strong outputs.
***Has your organisation ever received a grant from HLF? Yes/No/Don’t know
If yes:
In what year? (If you have received several, please give the most recent, or if you cannot recall the
exact year, please write in the approximate year)
Under which funding programme? [drop down list]
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Heritage Grants over £50,000
Your Heritage £3,000-£50,000
Young Roots
Parks for People
Landscape Partnerships
Townscape Heritage Initiative
Repair Grants for Places of Worship
Training Bursaries
Skills for the Future
Collecting Cultures
Don’t know
If not:
Has your organisation ever applied for a grant from HLF? Yes/No/Don’t know
If yes:
In what year? (If you have applied for several, please give the most recent, or if you cannot recall
the exact year, please write in the approximate year)
Under which funding programme? [drop down list]
•
Heritage Grants over £50,000 - 2009
•
Your Heritage £3000-£50,000
•
Young Roots
•
Parks for People
•
Landscape Partnerships
•
Townscape Heritage Initiative
•
Repair Grants for Places of Worship
•
Training Bursaries
•
Skills for the Future
•
Collecting Cultures
•
Don’t know
***Which statement below most closely reflects your opinion of the amount of work involved in
the application process, bearing in mind that Lottery money is public funding?
The work involved was in proportion to the amount of money we asked for
The work involved was excessive in relation to the amount of money we asked for
The work involved was relatively little in relation to the amount of money we asked for
We have never applied for Heritage Lottery funding
***Why do you say that?
*** What more could we do to improve our current grant-making processes?
We focus our development work on geographic areas and communities’ who may not have
applied to us before with the aim of encouraging good-quality applications. In deciding on a local
basis where to focus these resources in future, to what extent do you agree or disagree that we
should take account of the following:
A. Geographical areas that have received least funding from us in the past
(E.g. local authority areas)
B. Social groups that have benefited least from our funding in the past (e.g. people with
disabilities, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups, Lower socio-economic groups)
C. Types of heritage that have benefited least from our funding in the past
(E.g. archives, land and biodiversity, industrial, maritime and transport heritage)
Strongly agree

Tend to disagree
Tend to agree
Strongly disagree
Neither agree nor disagree
No opinion
Don’t know
Which one of the following statements best reflects your view?
A. HLF should give more priority to ensuring the financial sustainability of an organisation that
has already received Lottery money, to build on what has already been achieved, rather than
new projects
B. HLF should give more priority to new projects that will bring new and different benefits,
rather than to projects that have already received Lottery money
C. HLF should aim to strike a balance between the two 
None of these , Don’t know
Why do you say that? We believe that sustainability every organisation is vital however sole
emphasis should not be placed on this. Organisations especially in the community and voluntary
sector need to be able to fund projects through other fundraising techniques. Therefore we agree
that a balance between the two allows for new applicants while maintaining a positive relationship
with previous applicants.
As a Lottery funder, to what extent do you agree or disagree that we should seek to extend
our role to build the financial sustainability of voluntary organisations with initiatives to
support organisational development?
Strongly agree
Tend to agree
Tend to disagree

Don’t know
Strongly disagree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
No opinion
Why do you say that? Some support is useful but this should not be the main goal of the funding
from HLF and should be intimately related to the project’s delivery.
What role should HLF play to encourage philanthropy and more private supporters for heritage at
all levels?
The HLF should have a core role in encouraging philanthropy and private
support to heritage. As a funding body that preserve a vast range of our heritage, the private sector
also needs to be engaged. A high proportion of heritage is often owned privately with some
historical houses having generations of families continuing to live in them and share them with the
general public through events, tours etc. HLF should therefore gain support from private supporters .
What more could HLF do to help achieve a thriving and resilient heritage community in future?
To achieve a thriving and resilient heritage community for the future we suggest that the HLF should
continue and focus on a localised approach. Across the UK in every region different issues and level
of support surround the preservation of heritage therefore the HLF through the appropriate
management regions such as Northern Ireland would benefit greatly.
Section 2
To what extent do you agree or disagree with a simplified approach to grants under £10,000?
Strongly agree

Tend to disagree
Tend to agree
Strongly disagree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
No opinion
Don’t know
To what extent do you agree or disagree we should offer a medium sized grants programme with a
single round application process?

Strongly agree
Tend to disagree
Tend to agree
Strongly disagree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
No opinion
Don’t know
What should the upper threshold be for an open, single round community heritage programme
starting at £10,000? (Tick one)
£50,000
£150,000
£100,000

£200,000
Other amount (write in)
Don’t know
Do you have any other comments on small and medium sized grants? The paperwork for the above
sized grants should be in portion to the amount of funding given, for example the actual application
to the evaluation process. If funding is limited an ‘average grant’ statement could indicate that
most grants should be well under the upper limit.
What should our requirements for partnership funding contributions be after 2013?
A. Return to their previous levels?
B. Stay the same as they are now? 
C. Be reduced even further?
Don’t know
***Do you have any overall comments on our Heritage Grants programme?
Flexibility to respond to local needs and proposals is key, with guidance provided to ensure that
groups applying for funding target their applications appropriately. With decreased government
funding available there will be an increasing need for HLF funding; while it cannot substitute for all
government funding, it has a chance to significantly drive the heritage agenda and help to ensure
that limited resources are targeted appropriately to conserve the most important aspects of
heritage.
To what extent do you agree or disagree that the following continue to be the right priorities for
our targeted programmes? Young people, Landscapes, Parks, Places of worship, Townscape
regeneration
Strongly agree
Tend to agree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
Tend to disagree

Strongly disagree
No opinion
Don’t know
Why do you say that? All of the above programmes highlight important aspects and those
associated to preserving heritage. We agree that the following programmes are the right priorities
and should continue to be. The young people’s programme is vital as it educates effectively the next
generation that will need to preserve our heritage. We strongly support any programmes that aim to
protect our green spaces and landscapes around us. Much funding has gone to places of worship
and this would therefore be lower on the priority list, especially as these are largely privately owned.
What should the upper limit for Young Roots grants be? (Tick one)
£25,000
£50,000 
£75,000
Other amount
Don’t know
How could our Young Roots programme be improved? On the HLF website there is a ten minute
video about the application process made by funded projects. We recommend that the application
process should incorporate different types of media such as recordings, blogs or material other
means expressed by applicants in the process. This could present a synopsis of Who, What, When,
Where and Why the funding would benefit.
What are your thoughts on our proposals for the Landscape Partnerships programme? How could
they be improved? We strongly agree with the proposals for the landscape partnership programme,
especially the increased emphasis on nature conservation and biodiversity outcomes. We welcome
the increased budget for the delivery of this type of programme.
What are your thoughts on our proposals for the Parks for People programme? How could they be
improved? Parks and local spaces are significantly beneficial for a wide range of individuals, groups
and so forth. We agree that cemeteries should be listed within the scope of this programme, as
cemeteries do incorporate many aspects of heritage such as monuments, wildlife and species.
***What are your thoughts on our proposals for supporting places of worship? How could they be
improved? See above; the relative proportion of funding for this programme should be lower given
past high levels of investment and the opportunity for other fundraising by owners.
To what extent do you agree that heritage-led regeneration should continue to be a focus for HLF?
Strongly agree
Tend to agree
Neither agrees nor disagrees
Tend to disagree

Don’t know
Strongly disagree
No opinion
How can HLF best support place-based heritage, and communities’ engagement with it?
HLF can support place based heritage and communities engagement through the funding of projects
for example educational or recreational. Projects should integrate many uses for community
facilities.
Section 3
How strong would you say your support for our proposals to address climate change is on a scale
of one to five where one means your support is very weak and five means it is very strong?
1= very weak support
2
3
4
5= very strong support
Don’t Know
Why do you say that? We believe that climate change and its impacts on all heritage have been
previously under-recognised, therefore we welcome your proposals that demonstrate leadership or
innovation in addressing this issue. Furthermroe we support future proposals for projects to be
asked how they will be affected by predicted changes as we believe that historical buildings should
be monitored to determine and minimise the threats to them.
How strong would you say your support for our proposals for digital heritage is on a scale of one
to five where one means your support is very weak and five means it is very strong?
1= very weak support
2
3
4
5 = very strong support
Don’t Know
Why do you say that? We believe that in order to protect and preserve our heritage we need to
engage members of the public. The use of digital media is increasing with more information
displayed on the web and the use of I phones therefore we strongly support your proposals. This
could also encourage applications and induce creativeness on the topic of heritage.
What types of heritage should be priorities for digitisation, and why? All forms of heritage over
time should be introduced to the world of digitisation; we do favour information on built and natural
heritage such as historical buildings and landscapes to be first priority.
What types of innovation are most important for HLF to fund, and why? Novel and creative ways
to involve people in and increase their understanding of their heritage – natural, built and cultural.
How strong is your support for our proposal to run further targeted initiatives on skills in future,
on a scale of one to five where one means your support is very weak and five means it is very
strong?
1= very weak support
2
3
4
5 = very strong support
Don’t Know
Why do you say that? Skills are crucial to heritage as a huge percentage of knowledge has come
from traditional methods and training. We are excited in this targeted initiative as it will bring
increased opportunity for everyone to increase skills that may be dying out. We suggest that this
training provision could help an increasing number of unemployed especially in the age group 16-24
yrs old to aid job security in the future.
***What skills should be priorities for our support in a future initiative, and why?
What role could or should HLF play in helping the passing on of knowledge and skills within the
sector? Encouragement and funding of collaborative projects designed to share expertise and
experience.
To what extent should HLF do more to support heritage in private ownership?
A great deal
Just a little
A fair amount
Not at all

Don’t know
Why do you say that? Not our entire heritage is on public property therefore everyone including
private owners need to be engaged if it is to be preserved and valued. Consideration needs to be
given to the amount of help and support given to private owned but a balance could be struck.
Private owners may be the indirect beneficiaries of general programmes to promote awareness and
encourage conservation, however private owners should not be a major focus of public (lottery)
funding.
To what extent do you consider the purchase of heritage items in future to be important?
Essential
Very important
Fairly important
Not very important

Not at all important
Don’t know
Why do you say that? There may be times when the only way to protect an asset (land or building)
is to purchase it and mechanisms need to be in place to allow this.
How strong would you say your support for our proposal to simplify the process for urgent
acquisitions is on a scale of one to five where one means your support is very weak and five means
it is very strong?
1= very weak support
2
3
4
5 = very strong support
Don’t Know
How strong would you say your support for our proposal for a new Collecting Cultures initiative is
on a scale of one to five where one means your support is very weak and five means it is very
strong?
1= very weak support
2
3
4
5 = very strong support
Don’t Know
How strong would you say your support for our proposal for mainstreaming the principle behind
Collecting Cultures within our general grants programmes is on a scale of one to five where one
means your support is very weak and five means it is very strong?
1= very weak support
2
3
4
5 = very strong support
Don’t Know
Why do you say that? There are certainly times when acquisition is the only way to save an item of
heritage for the national interest. However, there will always be more demands on money than
there is money available and the purchase of heritage items can be extremely costly such that one
acquisition could use up a highly disproportionate amount of the available funds. A balance needs to
be struck.
OVERALL
Overall what do you think HLF has done particularly well? Overall we think that HLF has brought a
wide variety of people, places and projects together. The HLF has illustrated that heritage comes in
variety of forms and within the UK/Northern Ireland there is a definite uniqueness.
And what should we change? Clarification of goals and simplification of application procedures.
Please give us your views on any other issues you would like to raise with us.
Thank you for your contribution to our consultation.