Axminster Tools and Heritage Crafts are delighted to announce a brand new partnership, featuring a new Woodworker of the Year award to be launched later this summer.
Global suppliers of woodworking tools and machinery, Axminster Tools has spent 50 years building their family business into the renowned organisation it is today.
Sarah Goss, woodcarver
Working together with makers and creators at all levels, from trade professionals through to craft enthusiasts, their commitment to supporting woodworking skills fits perfectly with the ethos of Heritage Crafts, the UK charity set up in 2010 to support and safeguard traditional craft skills as a fundamental part of the UK’s living heritage.
As well as advocating on behalf of the heritage crafts sector (including its membership of more than 1,200) to policymakers and politicians, it raises awareness of the importance of these skills through projects such as The Red List of Endangered Crafts and The President’s Award for Endangered Crafts set up by the charity’s President HRH The Prince of Wales.
Along with the new Woodworker of the Year award, the partners will be collaborating on a range of other exciting initiatives to be announced in due course.
Axminster Tools Managing Director Alan Styles said:
“We see part of our role in the woodworking community as helping to ensure practical skills and knowledge are not only sustainable and protected but shared with others. Our teams are built from industry professionals, craftspeople and passionate woodworkers and we work hard to ensure that their knowledge is freely accessible to all and able to be passed from generation to generation. We believe that the benefits of celebrating and encouraging craft skills are far-reaching which is why we’re delighted to partner with Heritage Crafts.”
Heritage Crafts Director Daniel Carpenter said:
“We are thrilled to be working with Axminster Tools on this partnership to continue to lift the profile of woodworking skills as part of the UK’s cultural life and economy. Axminster’s support for skills at all levels fits perfectly with our vision of a healthy and viable ‘craft skills ecology’, providing a range of fulfilling careers and pastimes for the next generation.”
