Video for National Lottery Funded Projects: Capturing Impact, Legacy and Evaluation
If you've received National Lottery funding, video is one of the most effective ways to meet reporting requirements, evidence your impact, and create a lasting legacy record, whether you're funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, or another Lottery distributor. Koru Films specialises in producing impact, evaluation and legacy films specifically for National Lottery funded projects across the UK.
If you've been awarded National Lottery funding, congratulations!...That's no small achievement. But alongside the celebration often comes a quieter question: how do you show what this funding has actually achieved?
Our National Lottery Funded Project Experience
At Koru Films, we've filmed a number of National Lottery funded projects, including:
Rugby Gallery, Art and Museum Your Story, Your Collection
Creative Black Country (Video Series)
Oswestry Town Council Llwyd Mansion Restoration Project (Video Series)
Each project was different in scale, subject matter and audience but they shared something in common. Behind every one was a need to show what changed, who benefited, and how the funding made a difference.
Why Video Matters for National Lottery Funded Projects
National Lottery funded projects are typically expected to demonstrate their impact through progress reporting, formal evaluation, stakeholder updates, or telling the story of what's been achieved. Video supports all of these:
Bringing reporting and evaluation to life with real evidence, not just statistics
Supporting promotion and stakeholder communication with shareable, watchable content
Creating lasting legacy storytelling that outlives the project itself
National Lottery Community Fund vs. National Lottery Heritage Fund: What's the Difference?
The specific requirements vary depending on who's funding you:
| Funder | Main Focus | Public Acknowledgement |
|---|---|---|
| National Lottery Community Fund | Reporting progress, sharing impact, promoting your project | Grant-holder logo required across website, social media and printed materials |
| National Lottery Heritage Fund | Formal evaluation — measuring impact, benefits and legacy | Same requirement to publicly acknowledge support |
What Funders Are Actually Looking For
Having worked on several National Lottery funded projects, we understand the questions that matter when telling your story on film:
What has changed as a result of the project, and who has benefited?
How does this tie back to the original aims and outcomes set out at application stage?
What does progress, impact or evaluation look like in practice - evidence-led, not just promotional?
Is there evidence of community involvement, participation or co-production?
How is National Lottery support being publicly and appropriately acknowledged?
What does legacy look like beyond the life of the funding?
We also understand that some funders, including the National Lottery Community Fund, have specific guidance around applying by video, right down to consent requirements when recording other people. That attention to detail carries through into how we approach filming funded projects at every stage, not just at application.
These aren't questions we guess at. They're questions we've asked project leads, worked through with organisations, and shaped filming days around, so whatever the material is ultimately used for, whether reporting, evaluation, promotion or legacy, it holds up.
Taking It Off Your Plate
Running a funded project means juggling delivery, reporting, stakeholders and deadlines. The last thing you need is to also become an expert in impact evaluation, legacy documentation and funder guidance on top of everything else.
That's where we come in. When you work with Koru Films, you're not just hiring someone to point a camera, you're bringing in a partner who understands the funding landscape, knows what good impact and evaluation evidence looks like, and can guide the process from planning through to a finished film that does justice to the work you've done.
We'll ask the right questions early, suggest what's worth capturing and when, and handle the filming and editing so you can focus on delivering your project, confident that your reporting, evaluation, promotion and legacy needs are being taken care of properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
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It's not usually mandatory, but video is one of the most effective ways to evidence impact for both progress reports and formal evaluations, particularly for the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which places strong emphasis on evaluation.
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A promotional video focuses on celebrating and sharing your project publicly, while an evaluation video is evidence-led — showing what changed, who benefited, and how outcomes match your original funding aims. A well-planned film can often do both.
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Yes. Both the National Lottery Community Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund require public acknowledgement of support, including use of the grant-holder logo across your website, social media and printed materials.
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Yes. Some funders, including the National Lottery Community Fund, accept or actively invite video as part of the application process, with specific guidance around things like consent for recording other people.
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Any funded projectm community programmes, heritage restorations, arts initiatives, and environmental projects, can benefit from video for reporting, evaluation, promotion and legacy purposes.
Let's Talk
If you're planning a National Lottery funded project, a community programme, a heritage restoration, an arts or environmental initiative or you're partway through one and starting to think about impact evaluation, reporting or legacy storytelling, we'd love to hear from you.
We bring the same care and understanding to every funded project we film, whether it's for the National Lottery Community Fund, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, or another funder entirely.
Get in touch with Koru Films to talk through what your project needs, and how we can help tell its story.
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