Sharing our thanks this National Lottery Open Week

We are proud to once again be taking part in National Lottery Open Week, an annual celebration of the contribution National Lottery players make every week in support of good causes.

This year’s campaign marks 20 years since the Society’s National Lottery-funded Unlocking the archives project, which first enabled us to provide public access to our historic Collections of over two million documents, maps, photographs, paintings, artefacts and books. Since then, National Lottery support has allowed us to preserve and share these materials for the benefit of future generations and to promote Collections-related educational resources and events for schools and life-long learners. 

This National Lottery Open Week, we’re saying thank you and unlocking our archives once again to share rarely seen items, insights and stories from our Collections.

Earlier this week, we hosted two events sharing outputs from our recent project to digitise over 1,800 negatives and slides from the iconic 1953 expedition to Mount Everest, offering new perspectives on the legacy of mountaineering on the peak. The events included a display of rarely seen images from the expedition and were accompanied by a talk from our Image Licensing Manager, Jamie Owen.

To say thank you to National Lottery players for their support, the events were open for free to anyone presenting a National Lottery ticket or scratchcard.

Each week, National Lottery players raise £30 million for good causes in the areas of arts, sport, film, heritage, and community. Find out more about National Lottery Open Week.