Heritage Crafts Awards
recognition for master craftspeople and emerging talent
We are open for nominations
Established in 2012, the annual Heritage Crafts Awards are a range of awards each year which shine a spotlight on those individuals who champion heritage crafts skills and trades. We are indebted to our partner organisations who provide funding for our unique suite of awards and bursaries specifically for traditional crafts, and who make this possible.
The Heritage Crafts Awards celebrate and highlight the traditional living crafts made in the UK that contribute to our national heritage, such as silversmithing, dressmaking and tailoring, upholstery, weaving, leatherworking, metalworking, stained glass, green woodworking, embroidery and similar crafts where there is a significant degree of hand skill at the point of manufacture.
- Patron’s Award for Endangered Crafts
- England Maker of the Year
- Northern Ireland Maker of the Year
- Scotland Maker of the Year
- Wales Maker of the Year
- Precious Metalworker of the Year
- Fashion Textile Maker of the Year
- Woodworker of the Year
- Emerging Building Craftsperson of the Year
- Emerging Leatherworker of the Year
- Emerging Upholsterer of the Year
- Emerging Weaver of the Year
- Emerging Green Woodworker of the Year
- Emerging Stained Glass Maker of the Year
- Emerging Embroiderer of the Year
- Emerging Metalworker of the Year
- Trainer of the Year
- Trainee of the Year
- Community Catalyst of the Year
- Lifetime Achievement Award
Before nominating yourself or someone else, we encourage you to take time to read through these important links:
- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – please read for useful tips
- NOMINATION QUESTIONS – for your reference
- Watch our Live Q&A Session on grants, awards and bursaries recorded on 7 April
Please note that all Awards nominations now use the same nomination form, so you can nominate yourself or someone else for multiple awards all at once from just one form.
To nominate, please click on one of the relevant Awards above
DEADLINE: 5pm, Friday 21 August
Video or audio nominations:
Alternatively, you are welcome to submit a video or audio nomination, addressing all the questions in the form – You can download the questions here. The recording ideally needs to be no more than 15 minutes in length, then emailed to Rae at [email protected].
Nominate yourself or someone else
Patron’s Award for Endangered Crafts
England Maker of the Year Award
Northern Ireland Maker of the Year Award
Scotland Maker of the Year Award
Wales Maker of the Year Award
Precious Metalworker of the Year Award
Fashion Textile Maker of the Year Award
Woodworker of the Year Award
Emerging Leatherworker of the Year Award
Emerging Upholsterer of the Year Award
Emerging Weaver of the Year Award
Emerging Green Woodworker of the Year Award
Emerging Stained Glass Maker of the Year Award
Emerging Embroiderer of the Year Award
Emerging Metalworker of the Year Award
Trainer of the Year Award
Lifetime Achievement Award
Community Catalyst of the Year Award
Trainee of the Year Award
Emerging Building Craftsperson of the Year Award
Message from HM The King
“As Patron of the Heritage Crafts Association, I am delighted to endorse this new awards scheme which supports and rewards excellence in the heritage craft sector.
Crafts are such a vital part of our British heritage and I have always been passionately concerned to promote the best aspects of our country’s traditions ― and, equally importantly, to enable these highly specialised skills to be transferred from one generation to the next.
These new awards for heritage craft celebrate excellence across the sector in a variety of ways. They reward those who give so much by volunteering to support the many different crafts, those who pass on their skills, those who wish to improve their craft skills and those who continue to produce great British craft.”
Previous award winners
Owen Bushell, Millwright
Lorna Singleton – Oak swill basket maker
Nikki Laird, Kilt Maker
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Join us from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 June at our Marquee of Endangered Crafts at @craftfestival in Bovey Tracey, where we’ll be featuring demonstrations of crafts featured on the Red List of Endangered Crafts and an exciting talks programme.
Demonstrations:
• Ed Griffiths and Sarah Spicer (@dartmoorshoemakers) – shoe making
• @zoegilbertson and @sophie_scanlon (LIFLAD CIC)– flax processing
• Simon Nobs and Marcus Nobs (@sthcoaststudio) – woodgraining and marbling
• @nick_hand (Department of Small Works) – letterpress
• James Ashwell (@mottes_pots) – clay pipe making
• @stephs.midnight.flit – wagon painting
Talks: (subject to change)
Friday:
• 10.30am – Mash Bonigala (@theenglandarchive)
• 11.30pm – @amy.goodwin.signwriter (fairground artist) in conversation
• 2pm – @wheelwrightgreg and @wheelwright.sam (wheelwrights) in conversation
• 3pm – @bramblecarpentry interviews @lacebynicholas (lacemaker)
Saturday:
• 10.30am – Sarah Liscoe (sail maker) in conversation
• 11.30pm – @jamesfox283 (author of ‘Craftland’)
• 2pm – @bramblecarpentry interviews @johnwilliamson.dartmoor (Devon stave basket maker)
• 3pm – @katestrasdin (author of ‘Dressing the Queen – 200 years of Making and Monarchy’)
Sunday:
• 10.30am – @thistlemetimbers (boatbuilder) in conversation
• 11.30am – @papilionaceouspuresilk (ribbon maker) in conversation
• 2pm – @sarahvigarsart (marionette maker) – talk and performance
Book via https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/events/marquee-of-endangered-crafts/ or the linktr.ee in our bio.
Living Legacies – 13 May 2026, 11am to 4.30pm
Leathersellers’ Hall, 7 St Helen’s Place, London EC3A 6AB
Heritage Crafts, @theleathersellers and @saddlerscompany.saddlershall are delighted to be collaborating on Living Legacies, a unique celebration of some of the UK’s most endangered craft traditions. This day-long showcase brings together master makers, heritage experts and the public to explore rare skills – from passementerie and pigment making to shoemaking and falconry furniture making.
This is a pop-in exhibition, open between 11am and 4pm, with the opportunity to hear from practising makers, and for visitors to ask questions and experience these crafts up close. At 3.30pm, Mary Lewis, Head of Craft Sustainability at Heritage Crafts, will offer insights into the state of endangered crafts today.
Discover the living heritage of the UK’s craft traditions – and the people keeping them alive.
Book for free at https://londoncraftweek.com/events/living-legacies-endangered-crafts-in-the-uk or via the linktr.ee in our bio.
Our Staying Alive exhibition in partnership with @makesouthwest is now open until 4 July at Make Southwest, Riverside Mill, Fore Street, Bovey Tracey, Devon TQ13 9AF.
This exhibition shines a light on some of the Southwest’s most endangered crafts.
Fourteen master makers share their skills, tools, and stories, showing how traditions shaped by the region’s land and sea still have relevance and beauty today. From boatbuilding and ropemaking to hedging, basketmaking and tanning, these crafts connect past and present, keeping centuries of knowledge alive in the modern world.
• Find out about visiting the exhibition
• Experience the exhibition remotely on Bloomberg Connects
• Book onto one of the events, including ‘Signwrite your own ornate letter’ with @amy.goodwin.signwriter, ‘Make a ditty bag’ with Sue Liscoe, ‘Make a flax corn dolly’ with @flax_project, and ‘Make a willow crab pot’ with @crabpotcellars
• Hear talks with some of the exhibitors at Craft Festival Bovey Tracey, 12 to 14 June 2026
• Buy an A2 poster of the exhibition map illustrated by @illustratedbyverity
https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-stories/staying-alive-exhibition/ or via the linktr.ee in our bio
Three years of making, heritage and creativity come together this May at @kelmscottmanor
Over the past three years, @heritagecrafts , @socantiquaries and @kelmscottmanor have hosted a successful Maker in Residence programme, inviting contemporary makers to explore living craft traditions in the former home of William Morris.
This May, work by all three Makers in Residence will be brought together in a special exhibition featuring ceramicist @alisonproctorceramics , illuminator @sarahdavisartist and basket maker @sarah_le_breton, showcasing how traditional skills can be preserved, reimagined and kept alive through contemporary practice.
📍Exhibition opens Friday 1 May and runs throughout May
Join us for a conversation with the makers on Friday 1 May
See live demonstrations on Saturday 2 May
From sprig moulding and illumination to basketry, this exhibition celebrates the enduring relevance of heritage crafts and the ways they continue to evolve.
Make sure to visit Kelmscott this month.
#HeritageCrafts #WilliamMorris #MakerInResidence #LivingHeritage CraftExhibition
Crafted at Sotheby’s panel discussion – 16 May 2026, 10.30am to 11.30am
The Future of Craft – How do we keep vital skills alive?
From stonemasonry and weaving to glassblowing and basketry, many traditional crafts are under threat. This conversation explores what these skills still offer, why they matter, and how innovation, technology and new models of support might help sustain them, reimagine them and carry them into the future.
Panellists include Daniel Carpenter @heritagecrafts, Lucy Brown @hugoburgefoundation, Louis Elton @nationofartisans and James Haldane @sothebys.
https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/events/crafted-at-sothebys/
This week’s #MondayMaker is @sarah_le_breton
Her work is rooted in a deep passion for willow basketry and traditional craftsmanship. Sarah creates handwoven pieces that honour heritage techniques while exploring contemporary form.
Working from her Devon studio with locally sourced Somerset willow and rush, Sarah makes beautifully crafted baskets, sculptural lighting and woven forms designed for modern life which are all grounded in traditional skills.
Her practice also champions skeinwork, an endangered basketry technique she is helping keep alive through making, teaching and research.
Alongside commissions and workshops, Sarah is the 2025 Maker in Residence at Kelmscott Manor, where she is exploring the connections between rural craft, sustainability and the legacy of William Morris.
From heritage basket forms to innovative new work, Sarah’s practice is a powerful example of craft traditions continuing to evolve.
#basketry #livingHeritage #mondayMaker #heritagecraftuk
Heritage Crafts Weekend at the Cutty Sark – Saturday 16 May 2026, 11am to 4pm
Join @royalmuseumsgreenwich and Heritage Crafts at the Cutty Sark as we shine a spotlight on the heritage craft skills used to build and maintain this historic tea clipper.
Join us for drop-in activities, where you’ll learn about crafts such as rope-making, fender-making and traditional caulking. You’ll also have the opportunity to take a closer look at and handle a range of historical objects and contemporary craft objects. Recommended for ages 5+.
https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/events/cuttysark/
‘As a clog maker, I’m an endangered species’ on BBC News
“I need to be making things to be happy,” says @simon_brock_clogs. “At the end of the day if I’ve got nothing that I can hold in my hands and say I’ve done that today, it feels like a day wasted.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxk34zkq2eo
