A MASSIVE £200m has been given in the past year to more than 700 projects by the Heritage Lottery Fund's (HLF) Yorkshire and Humber Committee, including several in Ryedale.

Committee chairman Ian Carstairs, of Butterwick, near Malton, says the wide range of schemes has enhanced the lives of many people.

It is just a year since the regional committee opened its office in Leeds which, says Mr Carstairs, has played a key part in generating interest in the fund's work.

"It's great that heritage and restoration are at the forefront of people's minds, thanks to such television programmes as Restoration.

"But we want people to realise that HLF doesn't just fund historic buildings. We want to encourage people to think of their heritage in wider, more personal terms," says Mr Carstairs, who is a former deputy chairman of the North York Moors National Park Authority. He is also a leading photographer, conservation consultant, founding trustee of countryside charity CCT and, in 1995, was made an MBE for his services to conservation.

The regional HLF committee is made up of local people headed by Ian, and decides grants of up to £2m, and also advises the UK board of trustees on grant applications above that sum.

Nationally, HLF has been responsible for £2.5 billion worth of projects.

"It is the National Lottery players' money coming back into their locality," says Mr Carstairs.

Nationwide, 8,250 projects have benefited from HLF's help. "A lot of these schemes would never have happened without the lottery," he says.

In Ryedale and surrounding area, these have included the Ryedale Folk Museum's educational outreach programme, the restoration of the Pacific locomotive Sir Nigel Gresley, restoration work at All Saints' Church, Terrington, and All Saints' and St Helen's, Wykeham.

At Scarborough, the Rotunda Museum and Valley Gardens have had help, along with several schemes at Whitby, including the Youth Hostel Association's Abbey House, the Captain Cook Museum, Pannett Park Museum, and the new multi-million pound Whitby Abbey visitor

centre.

"What makes HLF so special in Yorkshire in terms of its heritage and identity is the imagination that is shown by applicants seeking funding in pulling out the heritage that is important to them," says Mr Carstairs.

The percentage of aid given by HLF varies, but is usually between 50pc and 70pc of the cost, he says.

"People are conscious of their environment. It is something that runs very deep and something in which everyone can be involved in. Heritage is what you value in your community. It can range from the revival of old recipes to the restoration of barges on canals. The scope is only limited by people's imagination."

But as more and more worthwhile projects come to the fore, the grant-awarding process becomes increasingly competitive.

"We make sure the projects can be sustained in the future," says Mr Carstairs.

As well as enhancing the environment visually, the HLF's funding is also aiding the future of a number of such ages-old skills as stone masonry and wood carving.

"Heritage plays a key part in regeneration," says Ian. "It is highly desirable that there should be multiple players in schemes."

The Yorkshire committee wants to see more small projects being put forward.

"There will always be major schemes but we want to encourage more modest ventures," said Mr Carstairs.

One of the increasingly popular ideas is oral history schemes. In its plans for the next two years, the committee expects to invest £713,000 in urban regeneration, £754,000 in rural revival projects, and £2.15m in highly-valued historic sites, including future work on Sheriff Hutton Castle.

Updated: 12:44 Monday, December 29, 2003