About
the national charity for heritage crafts
What we do
Heritage Crafts is the national charity for traditional heritage crafts. Working in partnership with Government and key agencies, we provide a focus for craftspeople, groups, societies and guilds, as well as individuals who care about the loss of traditional crafts skills, and work towards a healthy and sustainable framework for the future.
We are a UNESCO accredited NGO for Intangible Cultural Heritage and an official Community Support Hub for the UK Governments’ Living Heritage in the UK inventory, having advocated for UK ratification of the UNESCO Convention of the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2010.
Our Mission
To support and promote heritage crafts as a fundamental part of our living heritage.
We do this through:
- Knowledge – researching the status of heritage crafts and identifying those crafts in decline or in imminent danger of being lost.
- Advocacy – communicating the vital importance of heritage craft skills to the public, Government, key agencies and organisations.
- Safeguarding – ensuring that the highest standard of heritage craft skills are passed from one generation to the next and are recorded for posterity where necessary.
- Support – supporting heritage craftspeople to continue to practice, nurture and pass on their craft.
- Engagement – actively raising awareness and interest in heritage craft skills with the wider public and offering opportunities to engage.
Our Values
Equity and inclusivity
Removing barriers to participation and fostering appreciation of heritage crafts across diverse communities
Credibility and authority
Reflecting the extensive expertise of our heritage craft communities
Collaboration and cooperation
Facilitating connection between makers, supporters and partner organisations
Sustainability and stewardship
Being mindful of the cultural, social, economic and environmental impacts of heritage crafts
Integrity and honesty
Operating openly, accountably and fairly
Continual learning and development
Safeguarding heritage skills by adapting to changing social, cultural and economic contexts
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Heritage Crafts and the British Society of Master Glass Painters @bsmgp have launched a new training bursary for a new or early-career practitioner in stained glass. The successful applicants will benefit from up to £4,000 in funding, as well as one-to-one support from the staff at Heritage Crafts.
The bursaries are provided to help cover or subsidise the cost of training for a new entrant or early-career practitioner who would otherwise be prevented from pursuing this career path as a result of the cost.
Stained glass crafts include stained glass window making, glass painting within a stained glass context, and/or stained glass conservation.
The fashion textiles and costume making bursaries sit alongside others in fashion textiles and costume (supported by the Costume Society), leatherworking (supported by the Leathersellers’ Foundation), saddlery (supported by the Saddlers’ Company), shoe making (supported by the Cordwainers’ Company), maritime rope and twine crafts (supported by the International guild of Knot Tyers) and building crafts in Northern Ireland (supported by CITBNI). Additional bursaries for other crafts will open in April.
To find out more including how to apply (deadline 20 March) follow the linktr.ee in our bio.
📷 2025 recipient @kerriehanna by @katedonaldsonphotography
Heritage Crafts and the @theleathersellers have launched new training bursaries for new or early-career practitioners in leatherworking. The successful applicants will benefit from up to £4,000 in funding, as well as one-to-one support from the staff at Heritage Crafts.
The bursaries are provided to help cover or subsidise the cost of training for a new entrant or early-career practitioner who would otherwise be prevented from pursuing this career path as a result of the cost.
Leatherworking crafts are those which feature leather as a primary material. They can include but are not limited to saddlery, shoemaking, harness making, tanning, fashion, accessory making, and so on.
The fashion textiles and costume making bursaries sit alongside others in fashion textiles and costume (supported by the Costume Society), saddlery (supported by the Saddlers’ Company), shoe making (supported by the Cordwainers’ Company), stained glass (supported by the British Society of Master Glass Painters), maritime rope and twine crafts (supported by the International guild of Knot Tyers) and building crafts in Northern Ireland (supported by CITBNI). Additional bursaries for other crafts will open in April.
To find out more including how to apply (deadline 20 March) follow the linktr.ee in our bio.
📷 2025 recipient @amarpatelstudios
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Rush weaver
Location: Bedfordshire
Rush Matters is seeking a part-time rush weaver to join their team, working 3 days per week. The position involves plaiting, sewing rush floor matting, squaring and binding rugs. In the summer, you will also be involved in the rush harvest, unloading bolts on the farm and turning them everyday. No previous experience is necessary.
Find out how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker.
#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
Heritage Crafts and the @costume_society have launched new training bursaries for new or early-career practitioners in fashion textiles and costume making. The successful applicants will benefit from up to £4,000 in funding, as well as one-to-one support from the staff at Heritage Crafts.
The bursaries are provided to help cover or subsidise the cost of training for a new entrant or early-career practitioner who would otherwise be prevented from pursuing this career path as a result of the cost.
Fashion textile crafts can include, but are not limited to, dressmaking, tailoring, pattern cutting, hat making, millinery, glovemaking, fabric pleating, corsetry, and so on. Costume making can include garments and accessories made for theatre, film, television, musical performance, historical re-production, role play and so on.
The fashion textiles and costume making bursaries sit alongside others in leatherworking (supported by the Leathersellers’ Foundation), saddlery (supported by the Saddlers’ Company), shoe making (supported by the Cordwainers’ Company), stained glass (supported by the British Society of Master Glass Painters), maritime rope and twine crafts (supported by the International guild of Knot Tyers) and building crafts in Northern Ireland (supported by CITBNI). Additional bursaries for other crafts will open in April.
To find out more including how to apply (deadline 20 March) follow the linktr.ee in our bio.
📷 2025 recipient @megan.eleanor.graham
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Ceramic Decorator Apprentice
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Local heritage ceramics manufacturer, Middleport Pottery, is seeking a ceramic decorator apprentice to join their team in Stoke-on-Trent.
What you will do:
-Pad Printing – decorating plates and bowls from an engraved design using a printing machine
-Colour mixing – preparing decorating colours for application.
-Lithography – application of printed water slides to glazed ceramics.
-Tissue Decorating – decorating holloware shapes with Burleigh’s world famous technique.
-Assist in maintaining a healthy, safe and secure working environment and act in accordance with the company policies and procedure.
-Undertake any other work required by management which is commensurate with the responsibility of the post.
-Training/knowledge will be given in associated production areas to ensure a knowledge of any up/down stream processes are fully understood.
Middleport pottery is the home of Burleigh Pottery.
Find out how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker.
#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
This week’s #mondaymaker is Emily Fletcher @emilylisbethjewellery – a jewellery designer/maker.
Working from her private studio in Cheshire, Emily’s work is described as timeless elegance with a contemporary twist. Handcrafted using recycled precious metals and responsibly sourced gemstones, Emily creates meaningful heirloom pieces designed to last a lifetime. Emily’s style is constantly evolving, combining modern and experimental techniques with a foundation of traditional goldsmithing skills.
View Emily’s full profile on our maker’s directory: https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/maker/emily-fletcher/
#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #jewellerymaking
Find out more about our funding and awards
When: 20 January and 7 April
We are providing training bursaries, Endangered Crafts Fund grants and awards in 2026. To find out more and to ask questions about the opportunities on offer, please do consider coming along to one of our two Q&A sessions on Zoom.
Visit the linktr.ee in our bio to register for the session on Tuesday 20 January at 4pm or Tuesday 7 April at 6pm.
📷 @fashionnatascha from @costume_society and 2025 Fashion Textile Maker of the Year @rachelfrosthatter
We are profiling the recipients of our latest round of Endangered Crafts Fund grants.
Mark Norris @marknorrisharps, from the Scottish Borders, has been funded to help open a school of harp making and develop a curriculum of tuition before the craft dies out in Scotland.
Mark’s grant is funded by the William Grant Foundation
Mark said: “From the start of my own musical instrument making apprenticeship in the late 1970s, and throughout 45 years of designing and making harps, I have enjoyed developing a great range of craft skills as a Scottish harp maker. My Heritage Crafts grant will help me greatly towards setting up a small Scottish School of Harp Making, so that I can pass on my accumulated knowledge and skills to the next generation of young Scottish harp makers.”
📷 Gwendoline Ricoul
