President’s Award for Endangered Crafts finalists announced

A scissor maker, a paper maker and an industrial ceramics practitioner have been selected as the three finalists from a shortlist of eight, as part of the inaugural President’s Award for Endangered Crafts, established by HRH The Prince of Wales, President of the Heritage Crafts Association.

A judging panel featuring Patrick Grant (Great British Sewing Bee / Norton & Sons / Community Clothing), Mark Hedges (Country Life), Kate Hobhouse (Fortnum & Mason), Simon Sadinsky (Prince’s Foundation) and Patricia Lovett MBE (Heritage Crafts Association) made the final selection from a strong field of applicants that not only testified to the excellence of British craftsmanship but also provided a snapshot of the precarious state of endangered craft skills in the UK today.

The Heritage Crafts Association published the latest edition of its groundbreaking HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts last year, which revealed that there are 107 endangered crafts in the UK. Included were the eight crafts featured in the shortlist: scissor making, commercial handmade paper making, industrial pottery skills, oak swill basket making, wheelwrighting, kishie basket making, sail making and neon sign making.

The three finalists are:

• Paul Jacobs – Ernest Wright scissor makers, Sheffield
• Jim Patterson – Two Rivers Paper, Somerset
• Helen Johannessen – industrial ceramics practitioner, London

The other five shortlisted candidates were:

• Phill Gregson – wheelwright, Lancashire
• James Hartley – Ratsey & Lapthorn sail makers, Isle of Wight
• Lorna Singleton – oak swill basket maker, Cumbria
• Lois Walpole – kishie basket maker, Shetland Islands
• Richard Wheater – neon sign maker, West Yorkshire

The three finalists’ applications will now be presented to HRH The Prince of Wales for his selection, with the winner to be honoured at a special reception at Dumfries House, home of The Prince’s Foundation, as well as at a prestigious winners’ reception at the Houses of Parliament. The winner will also receive £3,000 to help ensure that their craft skills are passed on to the next generation.

HCA Chair Patricia Lovett said:

“We received a large number of very high-quality entries for this award, so being shortlisted was a huge achievement. The fact that we are blessed to have such highly skilled craftspeople in the UK should not allow us to forget the fact that, without more people taking up these crafts and the infrastructure and funding to support them, these skills could soon be consigned to history, in what would be a terrible loss to British cultural life.”

Judge Patrick Grant said:

“It was a joy to judge… I find myself wanting to do all of these things!”