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First round of Heritage Crafts Awards 2024 now open

Florence Egan
 
The first round of the Heritage Crafts Awards in 2024 are now open for nominations, with seven awards up for grabs, with support from the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, the Marsh Charitable Trust, and the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust. Deadline for applications: 24 May 2024.

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President’s Award for Endangered Crafts

The President's Award for Endangered Crafts was established in 2020 by Heritage Crafts President The former Prince of Wales. Each year the President’s Award presents £3,000 to a heritage craftsperson who will use the funding to ensure that craft skills are passed on...

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Heritage Crafts / QEST Environmental Sustainability award

Abigail Booth - sustainable/natural pigments
 
Deadline: 24 May 2024, 5pm
Heritage Crafts and the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust are again running an Environmental Sustainability Award in 2024, this year with two £1,000 prizes, open to any craftsperson or micro-business, who have improved their environmental sustainability within the last 12 months.

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Heritage Crafts awarded £158k grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Made possible with Heritage Fund
 
Heritage Crafts has received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £158k to capitalise on the heightened interest in traditional craftsmanship in the UK. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the two-year project will increase the charity’s capacity to support craft skills as a vital part of the UK’s heritage.

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Reviving the craft of cricket ball making in the UK

Dukes cricket ball
 
As Co-Chair of Heritage Crafts, the UK charity set up to support traditional crafts skills, Jay Blades MBE is leading a new initiative to bring cricket ball making back to the UK. The craft has been listed as extinct in the UK since the first edition of the Red List of Endangered Crafts was published in 2017.

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Heritage Crafts and the Costume Society launch new partnership

©Leeds Museums and Galleries; photograph by Sara Porter
 
Heritage Crafts and the Costume Society have joined forces to launch two training bursaries to ensure that new and early-career fashion textile makers have the skills they need to succeed. The partnership will also see a brand-new Fashion Textile Maker of the Year Award launched this summer, with a £2,000 prize to be presented in November.

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Training bursary for musical instrument making

Musical instrument making bursary
 
These training bursaries, sponsored by the Golsoncott Foundation and Jennifer Chen, are targeted at trainees and prospective musical instrument making trainees who are experiencing financial hardship.
Deadline for applications:
Friday 23 February, 5pm.

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Training bursaries for fashion textile crafts

Fashion textiles training bursary
 
These training bursaries, sponsored by the Costume Society, are targeted at trainees and prospective trainees of fashion textile crafts who are experiencing financial hardship.
Deadline for applications:
Friday 23 February, 5pm.

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Maker in Residence opportunity at Kelmscott Manor

Green Room fiireplace, Kelmscott Manor
 
The Society of Antiquaries of London is partnering with Heritage Crafts for a second year to call for Heritage Crafts member craftspeople who practice endangered crafts to submit expressions of interest in becoming the 2024 Maker in Residence at Kelmscott Manor, the former home of internationally renowned writer, designer-craftsman, conservationist and revolutionary socialist, William Morris.

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Nine more grants to help save endangered crafts

Andy Basham
 
A thatching spar maker, a pigment maker, and a boatbuilder are among the recipients of a new round of grants to help safeguard some of the UK’s most endangered craft skills. Heritage Crafts has awarded the grants through its Endangered Crafts Fund, which was launched in 2019 to increase the likelihood of at-risk craft skills surviving into the next generation.

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Winners of the 2023 Heritage Crafts Awards

ANdrew Grundon and Nick Carter
 
Traditional sign painter Andrew Grundon has won Maker of the Year in the 2023 Heritage Crafts Awards, presented at the College of St George, Windsor Castle on 15 November 2023, sponsored by The Royal Mint. The award, supported by the Marsh Charitable Trust, was one of 14 revealed at the ceremony introduced by Heritage Crafts Co-Chair Jay Blades MBE.

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Straw hat maker Lucy wins President’s Award

President's Award 2023 made by Eddy Bennett
 
Straw hat maker Lucy Barlow has won the 2023 President’s Award for Endangered Crafts. The prestigious award, and £3,000 bursary, was initiated by Heritage Crafts’ President the former Prince of Wales. The President’s Award trophy was presented to Lucy at a special presentation at St George’s College, Windsor Castle, on Wednesday 15 November 2023.

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Enameller Sally named Precious Metalworker of the Year

Sally Morrison
 
Glasgow-based watch dial enameller Sally Morrison has won the inaugural Precious Metalworker of the Year Award sponsored by The Royal Mint, including a £2,000 prize and trophy awarded at a special presentation at the College of St George, Windsor Castle, on Wednesday 15 November 2023.

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Woodcarver Tom wins Woodworker of the Year

Tom Ball
 
Woodcarver Tom Ball has won the second annual Woodworker of the Year Award sponsored by Axminster Tools, including a £2,000 prize and trophy awarded at a special presentation at St George’s College, Windsor Castle on Wednesday 15 November 2023.

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Precious Metalworker of the Year 2023 finalists

Precious Metalworker of the Year 2023 finalists
 
Heritage Crafts and The Royal Mint have announced the finalists of the inaugural Precious Metalworker of the Year award, including a silversmith, a silver spinner and a watch dial enameller. The winner will be announced on 15 November.

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11 new training bursaries awarded

Hannah Girvan
 
We are delighted to award 11 new bursaries for trainees from across the UK to learn heritage craft skills, supported by the City & Guilds Foundation, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, the Ashley Family Foundation, the Principality Building Society’s Future Generations Fund, the Arts Society, DCA Consulting and Kendrick Hobbs.

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President’s Award 2023 finalists announced

President's Award 2023 finalists
 
The three finalists for the 2023 President’s Award for Endangered Crafts, established by Heritage Crafts President The Former Prince of Wales, have been announced, including a straw hat maker, a coppersmith and a withy pot maker.

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Woodworker of the Year Award now open

Jonathan Hill
 
Heritage Crafts and Axminster Tools have launched the second annual Woodworker of the Year award, with a £2,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at reception at the Vicar’s Hall, Windsor Castle, this November. The deadline for nominations is 15 September 2023.

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Precious Metalworker of the Year Award now open

Emma Jane-Rule
 
We have launched the inaugural Precious Metalworker of the Year award as part of our ongoing partnership with The Royal Mint, with a £2,000 prize for the winning entry, as well as a trophy specially designed by Paul Morgan, the Kings Assay Master, to be presented at a high-profile reception at the Vicar’s Hall, Windsor Castle, in November.

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Master Crafters: The Next Generation

Bill Bailey
 
Bill Bailey’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation, starting on Thursday 13 July on Sky Arts, will see nine early-career craftspeople, who specialise in three heritage crafts, take part in bespoke masterclasses to help them improve in their chosen fields.

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Symposium on Precious Metal Skills

Heritage Crafts and the The Royal Mint are bringing together expert practitioners in precious metal crafts from a broad industry base to Somerset House on 25 July to create a consensus across the industry of what is required to support at-risk skills.

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Heritage Crafts Awards 2023 finalists announced

Jack Livesey, boat builder
 
Following a strong year full of high-quality nominations, the finalists for this year’s Heritage Crafts Awards, supported by the Marsh Charitable Trust, have been announced for Maker, Trainer, Trainee and Volunteer of the Year, plus a new Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Up to 11 heritage crafts training bursaries launched

Fylde Guitars by Mike English
 
We have launched up to 11 new training bursaries each of up to £4,000, in partnership with a range of sponsors and funders. This follows five bursaries awarded earlier this year with The Royal Mint, more than tripling the organisation’s offering in 2022. 

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Last chance to save Carter’s Steam Fair

Carter's Steam Fair
 
Carter’s Steam Fair is a nationally-important vintage funfair and the finest example of the endangered craft of fairground art in the UK. There is now a very significant risk of the collection being broken up if it can’t find a new owner and a permanent home.

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Kelmscott Manor Maker in Residence announced

Alison Proctor
 
Along with our partners the Society of Antiquaries of London, we are thrilled to introduce ceramicist Alison Proctor as the Maker in Residence for 2023 at Kelmscot Manor. This historic residence, once the cherished home of William Morris, will be the backdrop for Alison’s residency from June to October 2023.

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Red List of Endangered Crafts at Craft Festival

Join us at Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey from 9 to 11 June for a celebration of the practitioners of endangered crafts featured on the Red List of Endangered Crafts 2023 edition. Come and meet our demonstrators and chat to them about how they are keeping their respective crafts alive!

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Training bursary for those experiencing financial hardship

Zoe Collis, former apprentice papermaker at Two Rivers Paper (photo by Alison Jane Hoare)
 
These training bursaries are targeted at trainees and prospective trainees experiencing financial hardship. They are sponsored by The Royal Mint, the Costume Society, the Golsoncott Foundation and Jennifer Chen, and are part of a suite of awards and bursaries offered by Heritage Crafts to support and celebrate craftspeople.

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Training bursary for young people 25 years old or less

Holly Johnson
 
These training bursaries are targeted at Wales-based trainees and prospective trainees experiencing financial hardship. They are sponsored by unded by the Ashley Family Foundation and the Principality Building Society’s Future Generations Fund and are part of a suite of awards and bursaries offered by Heritage Crafts to support and celebrate craftspeople.

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Training bursary for Black and ethnically diverse makers

Michelle Mateo
 
This training bursary of up to £4,000 is targeted at Black and ethnically diverse makers, as this is an under-represented group in heritage crafts. It is sponsored by the City & Guilds Foundation and is one of a suite of awards and bursaries to support and celebrate craftspeople.

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Training bursary for Army veterans

ABF The Soldiers' Charity
 
This training bursary of up to £4,000 is targeted Army veterans. It is sponsored by the ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and is one of a suite of awards and bursaries to support and celebrate craftspeople.

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Training bursary for Wales

Crefftwr
 
These training bursaries are targeted at Wales-based trainees and prospective trainees experiencing financial hardship. They are sponsored by unded by the Ashley Family Foundation and the Principality Building Society’s Future Generations Fund and are part of a suite of awards and bursaries offered by Heritage Crafts to support and celebrate craftspeople.

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Heritage Crafts and The Royal Mint award five craft bursaries

Claire Mooney
 
The Royal Mint has partnered with Heritage Crafts to award five bursaries to preserve and champion traditional craft skills related to precious metals. Shortlisters selected five successful recipients, all of whom show huge potential through for various reasons require additional support in order to progress their careers.

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Seven more grants to help save endangered crafts

Scot AnSgeulaiche
 
A coppersmith, a Highland thatcher and a trainee sailmaker are among seven recipients of a new round of grants to help safeguard some of UK’s most endangered crafts. Five of this round’s grants are funded by The Radcliffe Trust and were selected with special consideration of the impact of the energy crisis.

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Three new endangered crafts grants for Sussex

Sarah Burns
 
A block printer, a trainee rake maker and a reverse glass sign artist have been awarded grants to help safeguard some of Sussex’s most endangered craft skills, thanks to a partnership between Heritage Crafts and the Sussex Heritage Trust.

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Veterans’ training for new careers in heritage crafts

ABF The Soldiers' Charity
 
We are delighted to have been awarded a grant from ABF The Soldiers’ Charity to provide three training bursaries in 2023 specifically for Army veterans. ABF The Soldiers’ Charity funds several charities that are devoted to helping former soldiers find gainful employment following their Army service.

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Heritage Crafts Awards 2023 now open

Jonah Addison
 
The Heritage Crafts Awards are now open with six brand new awards for 2023 supported by Marsh Charitable Trust, Axminster Tools, Sonnaz Ltd, Rose Uniacke, Sims Hilditch, and Lucy and Laurence Butcher. Deadline for applications: 5 May 2023.

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Heritage Crafts’ Jay Blades launches Discover Creative Careers

Heritage Crafts is partnering with ScreenSkills and over 20 other partners on Discover Creative Careers, which has been awarded over £1 million from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to inspire young people from 77 target areas across England to pursue a career in the creative industries.

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The Royal Mint announces partnership with Heritage Crafts

The Royal Mint has partnered with Heritage Crafts to launch four bursaries to preserve and champion traditional British craftmanship skills. As Britain’s oldest business and the original maker of UK coins and precious metals, it hopes to utilise its expertise in craftmanship to ensure that precious metal craft skills are passed on to the next generation.

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Pargeter Johanna Welsh wins President’s Award

Johanna Welsh
 
Suffolk-based pargeter Johanna Welsh has won the 2022 President’s Award for Endangered Crafts. The prestigious award, and £3,000 bursary, was initiated by Heritage Crafts’ President The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, before his Accession as HM King Charles III.

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Winners of the 2022 Heritage Crafts Awards

Hannah McAndrew
 
Slipware potter Hannah McAndrew has won Maker of the Year in the 2022 Heritage Crafts Awards supported by the Marsh Charitable Trust, which was presented along with five other awards at a prestigious Winners’ Reception at the House of Lords on 30 January 2023 sponsored by The Royal Mint.

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Project for 16 to 25-year-olds in West Cornwall

Coppersmithing
 
Heritage Crafts and Penwith Landscape Partnership have teamed up to run an exciting heritage crafts pre-apprenticeship programme, which is now seeking 16 to 25-year-olds in West Cornwall to try their hand at Cornish hedging, coppersmithing and basketmaking between February and April 2023.

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Traditional Wooden Boat Building Survey

  In October 2022 the Wooden Boat Builders Trade Association and Heritage Crafts held a Symposium on Traditional Wooden Boat Building. It was a well-attended event and raised some very interesting points for discussion. There was a clear message from the boat...

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Buy Less, Buy Better, Buy Handmade

Buy Less, Buy Better, Buy Handmade
 
We’ve partnered up with Folksy, CRAFT Festival, Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair and the Crafts Council to create a national campaign designed to support makers across the UK and encourage shoppers to BUY LESS, BUY BETTER, BUY HANDMADE.

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Promising future beckons for tinsmithing

Imogen Peacock, tinsmithing masterclass participant at Museum of Making
 
Tinsmithing skills have been passed on to a new generation of makers in unique masterclasses, organised with the generous support of The Worshipful Company of Tinplate Workers Alias Wireworkers and Heritage Crafts’ Endangered Crafts Fund.

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HM The King and Jay Blades support heritage crafts

HM The King and Jay Blades
 
Heritage Crafts President HM King Charles starred alongside Heritage Crafts Co-Chair Jay Blades MBE in an episode of The Repair Shop on 26 October as part of celebrations for the BBC’s centenary. Find out how you could support our work.

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Woodworker of the Year finalists 2022

WWotY finalists
 
Heritage Crafts and Axminster Tools have announced the finalists of the inaugural Woodworker of the Year award, including a woodcarver, a furniture maker and a musical instrument maker. The winner will be announced on Monday 30 January.

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Jay Blades MBE and David Clarke become Co-Chairs

Jay Blades MBE and David Clarke
 
We are delighted to announce that David Clarke and Jay Blades MBE will be leading our Board of Trustees as Co-Chairs over the next three years. We believe that the Co-Chairing approach will serve us well as it enters a new strategic period responding to a country undergoing rapid social, financial, political and environmental changes.

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Symposium on Traditional Wooden Boat Building Skills

Heritage Crafts and the Wooden Boat Builders Trade Association are bringing a group of experts and stakeholders together to ask this question and to consider the case for traditional wooden boat building being added to the Red List of Endangered Crafts, with the generous support of the Pilgrim Trust.

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New Heritage Crafts Ambassador Rose Sinclair

Rose Sinclair
 
We are delighted to announce that Rose Sinclair is joining Heritage Crafts as our new Ambassador! Rose is a lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, and has passion for textiles and the stories that can be told through cloth,

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Heritage Crafts Awards 2022 finalists announced

Fergus Wessel, lettercutter
 
Following a strong year full of high-quality nominations, the finalists for this year’s Heritage Crafts Awards, supported by the Marsh Charitable Trust, have been announced for Maker, Trainer, Trainee and Volunteer of the Year.

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Heritage Crafts X Satchel Careers Workshop (11-18 year olds)

Denzil Currie
 
Heritage Crafts is teaming up with Satchel to showcase some of the nation’s most creative careers. In this free online workshop we will introduce students to two inspiring craftspeople who will speak about their own journey with craft, and how they have made the best use of social media and video to promote their work.

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President’s Award 2022 finalists announced

Johanna Welsh
 
The three finalists for the third President’s Award for Endangered Crafts, established by Heritage Crafts President HRH The Prince of Wales, have been announced, including a pottery manufacturer, a split hazel basket maker, and a pargeter.

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The Prince’s Master Crafters

Heritage Crafts President HRH The Prince of Wales has lent his name to a new seven-part series, ‘The Prince’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation’, set to spotlight Britain’s rich heritage of traditional crafts, airing from 18 May on Sky Arts.

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Could you be our new Chair?

Deadline for applications: Sunday 19 June 2022 Heritage Crafts has enlisted the help of Inclusive Boards in our search for a new Chair. Heritage Crafts is seeking a new Chair to lead the organisation through the next stage of its strategic and operational development....

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New partnership with Axminster Tools

Sarah Goss, woodcarver
 
Axminster Tools and Heritage Crafts are delighted to announce a brand new partnership to celebrate UK woodworking skills, featuring a new Woodworker of the Year award to be launched later this summer.

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Patricia Lovett MBE to step down as Chair

Patricia Lovett MBE
 
Patricia Lovett MBE will step down as Chair of Heritage Crafts at the end of May, after four-and-a-half years as Chair and previously seven-and-a-half years as Vice-Chair, having co-founded the national charity for traditional craft skills which launched in 2010.

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Daahir Mohamed awarded Heritage Crafts bursary

Daahir Mohamed
 
Lime plasterer Daahir Mohamed has been awarded our new bursary targeted at Black and ethnically diverse makers, an under-represented group in traditional crafts. The grant, sponsored by DCA Consulting, will help to support him during his six-month SPAB Fellowship.

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Winners of the 2021 Heritage Crafts Awards


 
Glass engraver Tracey Sheppard has won Maker of the Year in the 2021 Heritage Crafts Awards supported by the Marsh Charitable Trust, one of a number of awards presented at a prestigious Winners’ Reception at the House of Lords on 2 February.

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The Making of Coventry

Coventry
 
Thanks to funding by Coventry City Council, Heritage Crafts is teaming up with Creative Lives for a programme of events and on-air coverage of crafts in Coventry, to coincide with Coventry City of Culture.

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Watchmaker Rebecca wins President’s Award

Craig and Rebecca Struthers. Photo by Richard Ivey.
 
Birmingham-based watchmaker Dr Rebecca Struthers has won the 2021 HCA President’s Award for Endangered Crafts. The prestigious award, and £3,000 bursary, was initiated by Heritage Crafts Association President HRH The Prince of Wales.

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Rose Uniacke supports HCA with new textiles range

Rose Uniacke
 
Designer Rose Uniacke has partnered with the Heritage Crafts Association to create ‘Remnant Weave’, a new fabric remnants collection, the profits of which will be donated to help safeguard endangered artisanal and craft skills in the UK.

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In Conversation

In Conversation At the beginning of the first COVID-19 lockdown we began running a series of free online events on Zoom. Here you can re-watch the recordings of all of these sessions. Click here for details of our forthcoming events and click here to watch our...

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MBEs for three heritage craftspeople in the Birthday Honours

Geoffrey Preston
 
Plaster worker Geoffrey Preston, basket maker Hilary Burns, and coppice worker Rebecca Oaks have been awarded MBEs in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021, in recognition of their unparalleled craftsmanship and tireless work in ensuring their skills are passed on to current and future generations.

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Heritage Crafts Awards finalists announced

Following a strong year full of high-quality nominations, the finalists for this year's Heritage Crafts Awards, supported by the Marsh Christian Trust, have been announced. The finalists are (in alphabetical order): HCA/Marsh Maker of the Year Fabian Bush, boat...

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President’s Award 2021 finalists announced

The three finalists for the second President's Award for Endangered Crafts, established by Heritage Crafts Association President HRH The Prince of Wales, have been announced. Each year the President’s Award presents £3,000 to a heritage craftsperson who will use the...

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HCA receives Ruskin Society Award

The Ruskin Society
 
The Heritage Crafts Association has been recognised by the Ruskin Society with a special award for its contribution to supporting and safeguarding heritage crafts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Let the bells ring out for Christmas!

The last operating bellfoundry in Britain has been saved just in time for Christmas, thanks to £3.45m from the National Lottery. As well as to protect the site, our aim is to make the Loughborough Bellfoundry the global centre for the art of bell making and learning and provide an engaging and exciting visitor experience.

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Endangered Crafts Fund for Sussex

Halnaker Windmill – restoration of windmill in West Sussex
 
We are working in partnership with the Sussex Heritage Trust to provide Sussex-based applicants with grants of up to £2,000 to help save endangered crafts from extinction. The Trust has recently received funding from the Ian M Foulerton Trust, alongside other donations, to fund the Sussex-based grants, which will be administered through our Endangered Crafts Fund.

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Red List 2021 support from the Pilgrim Trust

The Sound of Craft
 
We are pleased to announce a new six-month research project funded by the Pilgrim Trust, which will provide a major update and expansion of our groundbreaking Red List of Endangered Crafts, first published in 2017.

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Winners of the 2020 Heritage Crafts Awards

Paul Jacobs with master putter-togetherers Cliff Denton and Eric Stones of Ernest Wright scissor makers. Photo by Carl Whitham.
 
Sheffield scissor makers Ernest Wright have won the inaugural President’s Award for Endangered Crafts in this year’s Heritage Crafts Awards. The prestigious award, and £3,000 bursary, was initiated by Heritage Crafts Association (HCA) President HRH The Prince of Wales.

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Bookbinding Apprenticeship Scheme to close due to COVID-19

The Queen’s Bindery Apprenticeship Scheme will close in October, three years earlier than planned. Led by the Royal Collection Trust, the scheme had aimed to train six apprentices in the specialist techniques of traditional bookbinding. With all full time courses now...

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Shortlists for the 2020 Heritage Crafts Awards

Nigel Turton
 
The first round of judging for this year’s Heritage Crafts Awards, in association with the Marsh Christian Trust, has taken place and we are delighted to announce the 12 entries that have been selected as finalists.

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