Heritage Crafts Awards

We are delighted to announce our expert judging panel for this year’s Trainee of the Year Award supported by @marshawards. 🛠️

• Ash Appadu @ash.appadu – woodcarver, marionette maker and 2025 winner of the Heritage Crafts Trainee of the Year Award, Ash was trained in scenic arts, and went on to complete a master-led puppet making apprenticeship specialising in traditional wooden marionettes. Ash advocates for equitable entry routes into heritage crafts, drawing on personal experience to champion alternative learning pathways, apprenticeships and hands-on skill transmission.

• Jonathan Reid @jontmandaniel – scissor putter-togetherer and Trustee of Heritage Crafts, Jonathan is Production Manager at the historic Ernest Wright workshop in Sheffield. Over the past decade, he has played a pivotal role in the company, leading to a President’s Award for Endangered Crafts. He is deeply committed to vocational training, personally mentoring new apprentices and passing on precise, hand-tool skills to the next generation of putters.

• Marsh Charitable Trust – founded in 1981 by its current Chairman Brian Marsh OBE, the Trust supports over 500 charities every year through its grants and awards programmes, celebrating the outstanding contributions of people committed to social, cultural and environmental causes.

Nominees could be on a formal apprenticeship scheme, a less formal traineeship, an institution-based course with a high degree of practical training, or even be pursuing ‘portfolio-style’ training comprising of short-courses and workshops.

There is a £1,000 prize for the winner to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we will award a Trainer of the Year Award for the best teacher, also currently open for nominations.

📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)

➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/trainee-of-the-year/

📷 2025 finalist Toby Britton-Watts

Over seven posts we are profiling the recipients of our recent Endangered Crafts Fund round.

Caroline West @englishlacemaker, from Tyne and Wear, and the grassroots collective Lacemakers of Tomorrow, have been funded to launch a vital national mentorship programme for bobbin lace teachers.

Bobbin lace was added to the Heritage Crafts Red List in 2025. The single greatest threat to the craft is not a lack of public interest, but a rapidly shrinking and ageing pool of teachers. Many aspiring teachers want to pass on the craft but feel isolated, under-confident and unsure of how to structure their lessons.

This project directly tackles the bottleneck by pairing 15 aspiring teachers with highly experienced mentors for structured skill-sharing over six months. The grant provides a small honorarium to recognise the invaluable time and expertise of the mentors, many of whom are retired. Supported by peer-support sessions and a digital web platform, this initiative will preserve decades of teaching wisdom and build a confident, diverse network of lace instructors across the UK.

This round’s grants are funded by the Julia Rausing Trust and a private donor.

Caroline said: “Being awarded this funding is an exciting opportunity for the UK lacemaking community. It will enable our most experienced and skilled lacemakers and teachers to mentor and support the lace teachers and specialists of tomorrow, helping to secure the future of bobbin lace for generations to come.”

We are delighted to announce our expert judging panel for this year’s Community Catalyst of the Year Award supported by @marshawards. 💪

• Lauren Broxton @lauren_broxton – award-winning leatherworker, designer and community leader, Lauren won the Community Catalyst of the Year Award in 2025. She operates from her studio in Walsall’s historic leather district, where she works to reconnect local people with the town’s rich industrial heritage. Lauren works extensively with schools, youth clubs and marginalised groups, providing accessible hands-on workshops in leather crafting that boost wellbeing, combat social isolation and foster pride in regional identity.

• Jeanette Sloan BEM @jeanettesloan – renowned textile designer, author and diversity advocate with over three decades of experience in the craft sector, Jeanette trained at Brighton Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. She launched the BIPOC in Fibre initiative to increase the visibility, representation and financial support of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour working in the fibre arts industry, and was awarded a BEM in 2023 for services to hand knitting and diversity.

• Marsh Charitable Trust – founded in 1981 by its current Chairman Brian Marsh OBE, the Trust supports over 500 charities every year through its grants and awards programmes, celebrating the outstanding contributions of people committed to social, cultural and environmental causes.

Community catalysts are those who go above-and-beyond to promote the benefits of craft within their community, whether that be a local community or a community of interest. Typically, they will be committed to widening participation, and their way of working will create a groundswell of enthusiasm that brings others along with them.

There is a £1,000 prize for the winner to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November.

📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)

➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/community-catalyst-of-the-year/

📷 2025 finalist Razwan Ul-Haq

On the BBC News website yesterday: ‘Meet the people keeping endangered skills alive’

“[M]any traditional crafts are now on the brink of extinction, as advances in technology render them obsolete and valuable knowledge fades into the past.”

But with our help and growing public awareness these crafts have an exciting future! Support us by becoming a member or making a donation.

Featuring @theletterpresscollective @artfulcharlie @cotswold_dry_stone @tworiverspaper

Read the full article at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0vvyzp7g5o or via the linktr.ee in our bio.

We are delighted to announce our expert judging panel for this year’s Trainer of the Year Award supported by @marshawards. 🛠️

• Sarah Cant @sarahcantmillinery – acclaimed couture milliner, author and educator with over two decades of teaching experience across all skill levels, Sarah originally trained at Kensington and Chelsea College. Since leading the world-renowned HNC in Millinery at Morley College, she currently serves as a lead tutor on The CHANEL and King’s Foundation Métiers d’Art Millinery Fellowship. Sarah was named Heritage Crafts Trainer of the Year in 2025.

• Delyth Done MBE @del.done – Delyth is Head of the School of Materials and Design at Hereford College of Arts and Course Leader for the BA and MA blacksmithing programmes. Widely regarded as a global leader in craft education, Delyth has transformed training standards over the past decade, ensuring graduates are sought after by master blacksmiths worldwide. She was awarded the MBE in 2023 for services to blacksmithing and heritage crafts.

• Marsh Charitable Trust – founded in 1981 by its current Chairman Brian Marsh OBE, the Trust supports over 500 charities every year through its grants and awards programmes, celebrating the outstanding contributions of people committed to social, cultural and environmental causes.

This award celebrates the incredible individuals who dedicate their time to training the next generation of UK makers. We are looking for anyone who shares their expertise, including those running everything from beginner taster sessions to professional traineeships and apprenticeships.

There is a £1,000 prize for the winner to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we will award a Trainee of the Year Award for the best learner, also currently open for nominations.

📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)

➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/trainer-of-the-year/

📷 2024 winner Emma Brackenbury

We are delighted to announce our expert judging panel for this year’s Fashion Textile Maker of the Year Award supported by the @costume_society.💃🕺

• Harris Elliott OBE @harriselliottstudio – internationally renowned creative director, stylist and curator, Harris seamlessly merges spatial design with material culture, fashion and subcultural storytelling. Famous for styling iconic musicians like Blur and Gorillaz, he collaborates with artisan communities across the African diaspora through his creative platform Le Tings, elevating traditional craftsmanship onto global stages.

• Rachel Frost @rachelfrosthatter – award-winning Scottish hatmaker, historian and 2025 winner of the Fashion and Textile Maker of the Year Award, Rachel is currently the only artisan in Europe hand-felting hats using a traditional 18th-century ‘hatter’s bow’ – an extinct craft technique she single-handedly revived. Her sustainable practice incorporates naturally dyed, handspun wool and foraged plant fibres to create bespoke pieces for stage, screen and global museum collections.

• Professor Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas @fashionnatascha – Vice Chair of the Costume Society and Professor of Marketing and Sustainable Fashion at Ravensbourne University London, Natascha’s extensive cross-disciplinary research focuses on sustainable business models, ethical supply chains and international craft heritage. A prominent media commentator and author, she champions responsible design and social responsibility within global fashion.

Whether a costume maker, dressmaker, tailor, pattern cutter, hat maker, milliner, or weaver of fabrics specifically for fashion garments, we want to celebrate a maker’s dedication to excellence. From glovemaking to corset making… if the work is exceptional, it belongs in the spotlight.

There is a £2,000 prize for the winner to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November.

📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)

➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/fashion-textile-maker-of-the-year/

📷 Alis Le May