Over £22 million of National Lottery funds to help communities across the country celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

New programmes and activity from The National Lottery Community Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Sport England and the BFI, made possible by over £22million of National Lottery funding, will support communities to develop activities that bring people together to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.

The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, will today launch the £3.5million Platinum Jubilee Fund, which will provide grants of up to £50,000 to 70 impactful community projects across the UK, celebrating Her Majesty’s 70 years of public service.

In addition to The Platinum Jubilee Fund, grants of up to £10,000 from The National Lottery Awards For All programme – which gives out almost £80million of National Lottery funding in all parts of the UK each year – will be available for community-led events throughout 2022.

The Platinum Jubilee weekend will also be celebrated with The Big Jubilee Lunch from 2-5 June 2022. Part of a 2-year programme of activities supported by £2.3million of National Lottery funding, this Jubilee-focused version of the annual Big Lunch event will bring thousands of communities together and help people celebrate the Jubilee while getting to know their neighbours.

Arts Council England is launching the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund, a £5million programme that will support voluntary and community organisations in England to develop creative and cultural activities as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations with grants of up to £10,000.

The fund will be administered by UK Community Foundations, and applicants will be encouraged to partner with established artists, creatives and cultural organisations to develop their activities, ensuring that the Jubilee celebrations become an opportunity for communities throughout England to enjoy the best of the country’s culture and creativity, as well as celebrating an important milestone in our national history.

Throughout the year community organisations will also be able to apply for grants from the Arts Council’s £98.75million National Lottery Project Grants programme, which has been refreshed with new guidance to better support a broader range of ambitious cultural projects.

To mark the Jubilee year, The National Lottery Heritage Fund will invest £5million in supporting communities across the UK to re-connect with the nature on their doorstep. From wilding verges and sowing meadows, to digging ponds and creating highways for nature, communities will be encouraged to take action to help natural green spaces flourish as a legacy of the Platinum Jubilee. An additional £2million funding will create 70 paid placements for young people from under-served and disadvantaged backgrounds. These employment opportunities will provide the skills, experience and practical qualifications for those looking to enter a career in wildlife and nature.

Sport England will commit up to £5million towards a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund, which will open at the beginning of 2022 and focus on the role of sport and physical activity in tackling inequalities and building stronger communities.

The BFI is launching a Royal Jubilee themed BFI Player collection in 2022. Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be watched by countless millions across the world, and this collection of archival films will show how royal Jubilees have been celebrated and captured on film and television since the earliest days of the moving image. From Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, which brought the nascent film industry to London, via George V’s Silver Jubilee, captured by a new generation of amateur cine-enthusiasts, to Her Majesty The Queen’s Silver Jubilee, televised for hundreds of millions worldwide.

The films, drawn from the collections of the BFI National Archive and regional and national archives across the UK, have mostly been digitised with the support of the National Lottery, and will be made available for free on BFI Player.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “2022 will be a blockbuster year, celebrating the best of Britain with the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the Unboxed festival and The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

“It’s great to see our lottery funders supporting communities up and down the country to celebrate this historic occasion. This Jubilee funding will help everyone join together and say thank you to Her Majesty for 70 years of dedicated service.”

Blondel Cluff CBE, Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund and Chair of the UK Funding Committee said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we are proud to support communities across the United Kingdom to mark the momentous year of 2022.

“The £3.5million Platinum Jubilee Fund presents a wonderful opportunity for community spirit to shine, funding 70 exemplar projects that enable communities to come together, spurring fresh purpose and pride, whilst at the same time creating tangible legacies for the future.”

Darren Henley, Chief Executive at Arts Council England said: “We’re giving people across the country the chance to come together to experience the joy of culture and creativity in celebration of this historic milestone. With Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee taking place alongside the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival and the Unboxed festival of UK creativity, next year is set to be a magnificent celebration of our nation’s artistic achievements.”

Dr Simon Thurley, Chair of The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “I am excited that we will be bringing people together from across the UK during this special year with the shared purpose of celebrating, conserving and improving their unique community green spaces. The protection of our natural heritage is vitally important. On a grand scale it affects our ecosystem, our climate and the air that we breathe. For individuals, it inspires wellbeing and joy. I am delighted that, thanks to players of the National Lottery, not only will individuals from diverse backgrounds have the opportunity to work in nature but nature’s spaces will be kept safe for the enjoyment of generations to come.”

Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of Sport England said: “Whether it is the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Platinum Jubilee or the Unboxed Festival, 2022 is shaping up to be a year that we can come together and celebrate everything great about this country.

“In particular, the Platinum Jubilee allows us to mark an unprecedented anniversary by using the power of sport and physical activity to bring communities together and get people moving.

“We are excited to do so alongside a number of other organisations too, demonstrating the effectiveness and reach of the National Lottery, and the critical role it plays supporting so many aspects of public good.”

The National Lottery Community Fund’s Platinum Jubilee Fund opens to applications at 12noon on Wednesday 17th November. For more information, visit The National Lottery Community Fund’s website.

The Arts Council will publish more detail on how to apply for the Let’s Create Platinum Jubilee Fund in December. Find out more here.

Sport England will announce further details on The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund in due course.