The City & Guilds Foundation and Heritage Crafts are delighted to announce a new bursary for Black and minority ethnic trainees in heritage crafts.
The first bursary is being awarded to Nkosi Kerr, who moved to the UK from Tobago in 2019. An incredible talent, he was taught carpentry by his father, a well-respected craftsman. With the support of the bursary, Nkosi will complete a Level 3 Bench Joinery course at the Building Crafts College in London setting himself up to make significant progress in his carpentry career.
It is still the case that the UK craft sector does not accurately reflect the diversity of the UK as a whole and, for this reason, we are taking positive action to target this bursary at Black and ethnically diverse groups who are currently under-represented. The City & Guilds Foundation and Heritage Crafts believe that the value of our craft heritage comes from the diversity of skills and traditions across all of our communities, whatever their background.
The next bursary will be opened for applications on the Heritage Crafts website in the summer. To be notified when applications go live, please email Mary Lewis at mary@heritagecrafts.org.uk.
The City & Guilds Foundation is part of the City & Guilds charity, and its programmes are targeted to help everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, have opportunities to succeed.
City & Guilds Foundation Advocacy Lead Lauren Roberts said:
“Quality skills development for all is at the heart of what we do at the City & Guilds Foundation. We are incredibly excited to be working with Heritage Crafts in their mission to support black and ethnically diverse individuals, and are very proud to support learners on their journey to be highly valued members of the heritage community.”
Heritage Crafts Operations Director Daniel Carpenter said:
“We are thrilled to be working with the City & Guilds Foundation to provide bursaries for Black and ethnically diverse groups and help redress the historic imbalance of opportunity that has resulted from both overt and hidden discrimination within the heritage crafts sector. We are very excited to see the new generation of makers as much more reflective of modern British society.”
This bursary was first offered in 2021 sponsored by DCA Consulting and the recipient was lime plasterer Daahir Mohamed.
