UK sets £2m fund to repair local war memorials
As communities gather for Remembrance Sunday, the government has confirmed a £2 million boost for the National Heritage Memorial Fund to help repair and conserve local war memorials across the UK. Announced on Sunday 9 November 2025 by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the support will be delivered with War Memorials Trust, Historic England and other partners.
What it means: there are well over 100,000 war memorials around the UK, most raised by local people. Knowing who owns and maintains them matters, because responsibility usually sits with the owner or, if none is evident, local authorities can step in. That helps you decide who to contact before any work begins.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund is the nation’s fund of last resort. It receives £5 million in annual government grant‑in‑aid to safeguard outstanding heritage. This new £2 million is earmarked to support memorial conservation alongside advice for communities; practical application details are expected from NHMF and partners.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described memorials as places where communities gather to remember and said they must be looked after with dignity and respect. War Memorials Trust’s Frances Moreton highlighted that caring for these sites helps later generations understand the cost of conflict, while NHMF chair Simon Thurley welcomed the chance to support local memorials.
If you’re teaching or running a youth group, a condition survey is a simple, safe activity. Historic England’s classroom guidance suggests rating materials, inscriptions and surroundings as Good, Fair, Poor or Very bad, using photos as evidence. Upload findings to War Memorials Online after checking whether a record for your memorial already exists.
Try this today: visit War Memorials Online, search your town or postcode, and add recent photographs with the date taken. Reports marked Poor or Very bad are flagged for War Memorials Trust staff to assess, so your update helps direct expert attention where it is needed most.
What to do if you spot damage: submit a concern on War Memorials Online and include clear images. If you need specialist advice, War Memorials Trust’s conservation team accepts condition surveys by email or phone, though replies may take time for this small national charity.
Please don’t rush to scrub a memorial yourself. War Memorials Trust warns that over‑cleaning or the wrong methods can erode stone and lettering; even well‑meant efforts can cause harm. Always seek expert guidance or speak to the owner or custodian first.
Student note: focus on stories as well as stone. Choose a name on the memorial, trace their life through local archives or census records, and pair that narrative with your condition report so your upload records both care and context. This turns remembrance into active learning for your community.
For primary classrooms, there’s an e‑learning module that walks teachers through memorial surveys and generates a certificate once pupils contribute to War Memorials Online. Secondary and college groups can adapt the same method for fieldwork and civic action.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War-VE Day in May and VJ Day in August were widely commemorated. The funding announcement sits alongside those moments and aims to protect places of remembrance for the long term.
If you’re unsure where to start, War Memorials Online already has more than 3,000 contributors updating records nationwide; adding yours takes minutes and strengthens the national picture. We’ll follow how the £2 million is allocated and signpost application steps as partners publish them.