New fund inundated with proposals to save endangered crafts
5th August 2019 | ANNOUNCEMENTS
Zoe Collis, apprentice in the critically endangered craft of commercial handmade paper making. Photo by Alison Jane Hoare.
The Heritage Crafts Association (HCA), which earlier this year published the latest edition of its groundbreaking Red List of Endangered Crafts, has been overwhelmed with high-quality applications to its new Endangered Crafts Fund, launched on 1 July 2019.
So positive has been the response that the charity is now looking for additional donations to save even more of Britain’s most endangered crafts from oblivion.
Applications to the Endangered Crafts Fund include proposals for mentoring in marketing or business development, the provision of tools for trainees, and the creation of online educational resources to pass endangered skills on… all interventions that will help ensure that endangered crafts continue into the future.
The publication of the HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts in May 2017 showed that the heritage crafts knowledge, skills and practices that form an important part of our shared cultural heritage, are – for a number of reasons – at risk of being lost. The HCA believes that these cultural assets are as important as unique heritage buildings and ancient beautiful landscapes and could provide future generations with fantastic opportunities to enrich their lives and the lives of others.
HCA Endangered Crafts Officer Mary Lewis said:
“We are so grateful for the donations we have received up to this point, which will provide critical support for some of the interventions needed… but it isn’t enough. We need more funds to prevent as many endangered crafts as possible from becoming extinct in this generation”
Donations make a real difference, with both smaller and larger amounts ensuring that craft skills are supported for the future. The Heritage Crafts Association will publicise instances of where donations are spent and the difference it has made to the survival of endangered craft skills.
Click here to donate to the Endangered Crafts Fund. For more information about the fund, email HCA Endangered Crafts Officer Mary Lewis at [email protected].