Lottery funded UK attractions offer free entry for Christmas

Hundreds of UK attractions that have received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) are offering free entry, discounts and gifts to visitors who brandish a National Lottery scratchcard upon arrival.

The move, according to HLF, is a way of saying "thank you" this Christmas to lottery players in the UK, whose money has helped the organisation to hand out £7.9bn (US$10bn, €8.9bn) of funding to more than 43,000 heritage projects over the past 24 years.

In addition to the free offers from heritage institutions, a number of arts, sports and community venues – all recipients of National Lottery funding – will also be opening their doors for free.

There will be free entry to over 100 National Trust sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 5-7 December, while Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, HMS Caroline, Fleet Air Arm Museum and The National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool will all offer free entry between 3-9 December.

Elsewhere Skipton Woodland Trust in the Yorkshire Dales is holding a free tree giveaway, while Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage in the Lake District is offering free entry from 3-9 December and Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre in Cheshire is doing the same.

London’s Natural History Museum's 'Life in the Dark' exhibition will be free for visitors between 3-9 December and Dorset Wildlife Trust is holding a free beginners’ bird watching walk during that period.

A fully interactive map of all participating institutions and their locations can be found here.