The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced a £3m grant for the Giant's Causeway World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland and £3.7m for Liverpool's pioneering Florence Institute for Boys.

In addition, it has given initial support for projects at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge, the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough, Roman Maryport in West Cumbria and the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford.

Dame Jenny Abramsky, chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: "Heritage means different things to different people but what is really important is these places reflect the UK's multi-layered and fascinating history."

The Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast is Northern Ireland's only World Heritage Site.

Owned on behalf of the nation by the National Trust, it is a piece of natural heritage which boasts 40,000 interlinked basalt columns on the north Antrim coast.

HLF's £3m grant will enable the Trust to protect and enhance this popular tourist attraction whilst involving the local community and creating much-needed employment opportunities.

The Trust will build new visitor facilities to provide a better understanding of the site's history and geology.

It will also put in place a specially-designed volunteering strategy to get more people involved in looking after the site.

HLF's £3.7m grant will enable The Florence Institute - 'The Florrie' - to begin extensive repair and conservation work.

Closed for over 20 years, the nineteenth century Jacobean-style building in Toxteth is one of the oldest surviving purpose-built youth clubs in the UK.

Singer Gerry Marsden commented: "It's great news to hear of the Florrie being restored and brings back many great memories for me. It was where I learned to play the guitar and where our skiffle band started out."

Once completed, the Florrie will be a multi-purpose community centre and a focus for young people in Toxteth and neighbouring Dingle.

It will be run by the Florence Institute Trust which has been campaigning to save the building for the last decade.

The following four projects have received initial backing from HLF - plus confirmed development funding - and will now move to the next stage of their plans before a final funding decision is made:

Kettle's Yard, Cambridgeshire - initial support for a £2.3m HLF bid, including £225,500 development funding. Kettle's Yard was created in 1956 by Jim Ede, the Tate Gallery's first modern art curator.

Transporter Bridge Visitor Experience, Middlesbrough - initial support for a £2.03m HLF bid, including £111,500 development funding

Transporter bridges (a type of moving bridge with a gondola) are extremely rare with only three surviving in the UK.

Roman Maryport: a World Heritage in West Cumbria - initial support for a £3.74m HLF bid, including £165,600 development funding

Camp Farm in Maryport is home to a Roman fort and the largest intact civil settlement (known as vicus) on Hadrian's Wall.

The University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford - initial support for a £3.29m bid, including £118,550 development funding

The Grade I listed University Church is one of England's most popular parish churches with 300,000 tourists visiting each year.

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