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HLF is administered by the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), the fund of last resort for the UK’s heritage, coming to the rescue by funding emergency acquisitions. NHMF allocates around £10 million of government grant-in-aid money per year to our national heritage. But since it first allocated grants in 1995, HLF has had far greater impact on museums and galleries than its parent body. It has distributed about £1.3 billion in capital and revenue grants, which have touched the majority of accredited museums, enabling them to invest in buildings, renew their displays, and develop new or improved educational and outreach programs.

Achieving a careful balance between income, awards, and commitments is a constant source of concern for HLF. Table 3.1 shows how even over a short period (five years) it is impossible to assume stability. Trustees can make awards in a year greater than one year’s income, because they have held back funds in the bank. The sudden fall in awards in 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 is mostly explained by developing a new system of assessing applications in two rounds: Round One passes are not committed awards and therefore do not count. The figure will rise again in 2010/2011 because most of the projects passed at Round One will by then have passed Round Two and will have been awarded a grant.

TABLE 3.1 Heritage Lottery Fund financial and staffing profile 2005/6–2009/10

Financial year	Trustees’ awards (£m)	Income from National Lottery (£m)	NLDF investment income (£m)	Total income (£m)	Average number of employees
2005/2006	n/a	230.4	39.7	270.7	245
2006/2007	285.4	201.0	30.0	231.7	247
2007/2008	283.9	200.4	15.4	217.0	238
2008/2009	150.9	208.2	9.9	209.1	230
2009/2010	85.5	246.7*	2.0	205.5	226

^* However, from this, £43.4m was transferred to the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund. £10.8m had been taken in the previous year. Source: HLF Annual Reports

Income from the National Lottery derives from ticket sales. Interest in playing the games seems to have fallen in the mid-2010s, but revived again as recession set in – it seems that poorer people gamble more when economically threatened. Unfortunately all of the increase (and more) in 2009/2010 was lost because £43.4 million was “stolen” to help fund the 2012 London Olympics (see Table 3.1).

Investment income from the National Lottery Development Fund (which holds lottery income, maximizing investment income, and releases it to the distributing bodies as required) crashed spectacularly over the past five years because of significant reductions in market interest rates and gilt yields. So, overall, annual income into the HLF fell by a quarter because of an increasingly challenging economic climate and a raid to support the Olympics. However, as the recession continues to bite, the number of lottery tickets sold has been increasing. As of February 2012, projections suggested that the HLF is likely to see its share of funding rise over the next five years. £1.42 billion is expected to be available between 2011/2012 and 2015/2016 – a 14.7 percent increase on 2010 projections (Kendall 2012).