New research into HLF funding has revealed some exciting headline statistics which help quantify the value and importance of heritage.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) writes:
New research by BritainThinks puts heritage at the heart of improving quality of life across the UK over past 20 years. To coincide with 20 years of investment into the UK’s heritage amounting to over £6billion, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) commissioned BritainThinks to conduct in-depth research in 12 towns and cities representative of the UK population. The aim was to better understand the public’s view of that National Lottery investment and to see to what extent it had made places better to live and work in or visit.
Key findings:
- 80% think local heritage makes their area a better place to live
- 64% think heritage has improved in recent years in terms of how well it is looked after and what it has to offer
- 50% answered 7 or more out of 10 when asked to rate the impact local heritage sites have on their personal quality of life
- Strong support for heritage investment with 76% of regular Lottery players rating the HLF projects in their area a good or excellent use of Lottery funding
- Heritage plays a powerful role in bringing people together and helping to improve perceptions of quality of life
- Benefits of heritage seen as both transactional and emotional, encouraging local pride and fostering social cohesion
The research tells us why heritage matters to people:
- People see heritage as having benefits that directly relate to the things they consider important to improving local quality of life. 93% think it is important to the UK, 85% think it is important locally and 81% think it is important to them personally. We are told this is because heritage :-
- delivers economic benefits, drives tourism and creates good jobs
- makes places more visually attractive
- provides leisure activities and things to do, particularly for families
- instills local pride and encourages better social cohesion
- Nearly everyone (95%) living in small urban areas (eg Shrewsbury, Durham, Exeter in our research) agree their place is a good place to live
- 84% agree from very large urban areas (eg Glasgow, Manchester, Lewisham/South London) and 87% agree in rural towns (Pontypool, Newark, Armagh)
- The least content are those living in large urban areas (eg Bradford, Peterborough and Portsmouth in our sample) where 72% agree
Heritage inequality challenge:
- The research reveals that public parks, townscapes and those heritage projects which involve people in activities can be used to appeal to wider audiences and different social groups and work well to improve the quality of life of those people
- When heritage does reach DE social groups (who are traditionally less involved), it can be more important for their personal sense of identity than to AB social groups
- The research highlights the need to continue to strive to marry local heritage to local needs and aspirations to achieve the greatest impact on quality of life
Seona Reid, Interim Chair of HLF,commented: ‘This research is reassuring but also throws out some big challenges for us all. At this 20-year milestone, we wanted to hear people’s views about what difference our investment was making. It is heartening that the research shows heritage playing an important role in improving places for people, but it also uncovers the need to invest more in the kinds of heritage projects that bring people together and contribute most to well-being and quality of life. It’s given us a great steer for the next 20 years.’
Helen Grant, Minister for Tourism, said: ‘Britain has such a rich and proud heritage – it is synonymous with our national identity and who we are. It’s great to hear that our iconic buildings and fantastic cultural attractions also have a positive effect on our wellbeing too, making people happy. But not only does it make us proud Britons happy but it also puts smiles on faces of millions of overseas visitors too who are coming to experience the best of Britain in record numbers, boosting local economies up and down the country.’
Explore each of the 12 places and view a video highlighting the importance of heritage on the HLF website
