The scheme is grant funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund through its Landscape Partnership programme. Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of the Heritage Fund has said,

"Our historic landscapes are incredibly important to people’s wellbeing and need to be protected. Some of the landscapes we are funding today are in the most remote parts of the UK; others form an important backdrop to some of our largest cities.  What they all have in common is the potential to make people’s lives better, which is why they are so richly deserving of National Lottery money.

"A grant of £224,200 was awarded in November 2016 to enable Friends of the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and partners to develop their detailed plans for a Round 2 bid for the scheme’s delivery.  This development phase has been completed and the Round 2 bid was submitted for a further grant of £2.27m in September 2018.  In December 2018 we heard that this application was successful, helping fund a scheme worth £3.45m, including cash match funding and volunteer time."