A voice for craft

We have hit a major milestone for our charity we started in 2010 to support, safeguard and celebrate traditional craft skills in the UK.

With our latest training bursary round we have for the first time exceeded £1 MILLION distributed to the heritage crafts sector through our grants, awards and bursary programmes… and that money has done SO MUCH GOOD!

• It has set over 160 new entrants and early career practitioners on track to sustainable and fulfilling livelihoods as makers
• It has helped over 100 small heritage crafts businesses overcome immediate obstacles to long-term viability.
• It has recognised over 110 makers for their exemplary skill, in a mainstream culture in which vernacular crafts have previously struggled to be seen.

As a charity that receives no public funding, we couldn’t have done any of this without our amazing funders, corporate sponsors, individual donors and members. So thank you, each and every one!

We are primarily an advocacy charity, so our message to governments and their agencies is this…

Look what a positive difference relatively small amounts can make to individual life trajectories, local sustainable economies, and the richness of our shared cultural life. Follow our lead and invest in the future of heritage crafts… as something we all have a stake in and can all be proud of… as part of a thriving, resilient and enriching United Kingdom!

If you want to be part of the next chapter of Heritage Crafts, follow us, become a member today via the link in our bio, and make a donation if you are in a position to do so.

We love the craft skills we have inherited and with your support we can make them even stronger!

Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.

Alex Hawes @alexhawes_embroidery, from Surrey, combines fashion, embroidery and costume making. She has a long-term vision to establish a unique costume house that bridges embellishment and enamelling, and will mentor future craftspeople. Her bursary will fund an intensive costume making course at the @themanchesterschoolofcostume.

Alex’s bursary is supported by the Capri Holdings Corporate Foundation.

Alex said: “With the support of a Heritage Crafts, I am training as a costume maker at the Manchester School of Costume. This, in addition to my existing practice as a hand-embroidery artist, will give me the confidence and connections to work in the UK film and TV industry as an embellisher/maker.”

Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.

Lee Gordon, from London, is a self-taught maker in vitreous enamelling, metalwork and watch assembly. His bursary will fund a comprehensive training programme in watch dial enamelling and metalwork, including weekly studio tuition with Paul and Tamika Ravn, classes with @janemoorejewellery at @theforgespace, portrait enamelling with Gillie Hoyte Byrom and hand engraving with @handengravers.

Lee’s bursary is supported by the Capri Holdings Corporate Foundation.

Lee said: “This funding turns an endangered craft from something I frequent in borrowed workshops into a practice I can sustain, innovate in and share with others.

“It gives me the chance to innovate and refine ideas that would otherwise stay as rough experiments …and to work in a way that respects the limits and strengths of my mental health whilst keeping an endangered practice alive.”

📷 @lgstudio_

Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.

Jasmine Harper-Jones @jasmineharperjones, from East Sussex, has a background in ceramics and glass and currently works as an FE college art and design technician. Her bursary will fund a series of intensive one-to-one training visits with prestige artist Lee Price at @duchesschina1888 in Stoke-on-Trent, focusing on traditional on-glaze painting, raised paste and enamel jewelling.

Jasmine’s bursary is supported by the Dulverton Trust.

Jasmine said: “I am so pleased and feel very fortunate to have received a Heritage Crafts training bursary. This will enable me to continue working with historical Duchess China 1888 works, in the heart of The Potteries, with Prestige Artist Lee Price. I will be able to combine my painting skills with the craft of onglaze decoration and develop our collaborative work.”

📷 @robertwadephotography

Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.

Matthew James @friend_of_lime, from Swansea, runs Gower Limework and is an SPAB Fellow with experience in heritage plastering and traditional building conservation. His bursary will fund an intensive one-week Level 1 course in lead welding and bossing at the @leadsheettrainingacademy, along with essential leadworking toolkits.

Matthew’s bursary is supported by the @ashley_family_foundation_4321.

Matthew said: “It’s an opportunity to turn working with your hands to the next level… with guidance and practice comes confidence.”

Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.

Henrietta Lawrence Van Pooss @_hlvp, from Kent, has gained extensive volunteering experience in heritage conservation with the National Trust and completed an intensive marble sculpting internship in Athens. Her bursary will contribute towards tuition fees for the two-year combined Level 2 and Level 3 Stonemasonry course at the @buildingcraftscollege in London.

Henrietta’s bursary is supported by the @cityandguildsfoundation.

Henrietta said: “Securing this funding is an exciting and meaningful step in helping me continue my journey into stonemasonry and heritage conservation. Through volunteering, unpaid placements and travelling long distances, I have worked hard to build hands-on experience, and this funding will give me the chance to gain a specialist qualification and progress my career.

"Representation is also so important in heritage craft, and as a woman of Black and mixed heritage entering a traditionally male-dominated field, I hope my journey can help inspire greater visibility and show others that heritage craft is an achievable and rewarding career path.”

Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.

Amar Grewal @amarthemaker, from Middlesex, transitioned into ceramics following a career in hospitality and has spent time volunteering alongside professional potters to develop his making skills. His bursary will contribute towards tuition fees for the two-year Diploma in Ceramics at @claycollegestoke, focusing on production throwing, hand-building, glaze formulation and kiln firing.

Amar’s bursary is supported by the @cityandguildsfoundation.

Amar said: “To be part of the millennia-old ceramics tradition feels like such a privilege and responsibility. With Heritage Crafts and City & Guilds’ support and guidance, I am able to make the most of the full-time training at Clay College Stoke, which will give me the strongest possible foundation for life as a potter.”

📷 @madebytrosh and @todays_tipple

Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.

Nancy Johnston @upholsterycats, from Kingston-upon-Thames, is a former Welsh Guards musician, oboist and music educator who has developed traditional furniture upholstery skills through adult education classes. Her bursary will fund the first year of @the_amusf Diploma at @shoreditchdesignrooms, covering traditional springing, stuffing and stitching techniques.

Nancy’s bursary is supported by the Royal British Legion.

Nancy said: “The funding from Heritage Crafts means I can complete the training I need to pursue my dream of becoming an upholsterer.”