I was pleased to celebrate the 29th birthday of the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund in a recent event in Parliament.

Since the National Lottery launched in 1994, the Heritage Fund has funded projects small and large across Cardiff Central. The fund supports projects of all sizes that connect people to the UK’s heritage with grants from £10,000 up to £10m.

Since 1994, in Cardiff Central that has meant the funding of 107 projects to the tune of £25,596,320. Some of the largest projects supported in Cardiff Central include the conservation of Cardiff Castle, which was awarded £6.7m in 1998/99, and the restoration of Bute Park, which received £3.2m in 2006/07.

The ongoing restoration project at Cardiff market has also benefited from a grant of over £2m, to breathe new life into the grade II listed city centre landmark. Other projects to have benefitted in the past include The Gate on Keppoch Street in Roath.

More information on the type of projects that the heritage fund can support is available here.