A gift in your will
Leaving a legacy for heritage crafts
A gift in your Will helps ensure that the next generation of makers have access to the craft skills that have developed up over many generations, many of which are in danger of being lost forever.
After you have provided for your loved ones, please do consider how leaving a gift to Heritage Crafts might help us fulfil our vision of a society in which heritage craft skills are acknowledged as being of vital importance, and are nurtured and celebrated accordingly.
We were founded in 2010 and have been growing steadily ever since, but there is always so much more that we wish to do and applying for funding from Trusts and Foundations is becoming more competitive. Your legacy could play an important part in the future we want to create.
How to leave a gift in your Will
Using a solicitor to make or update your Will ensures that your wishes are carried out after you’re gone. You may have a solicitor already, or you can ask family or friends for a recommendation. You may wish to use one of the many online Will writing services that can assist you. The Law Society also has a Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme to help you find a solicitor specialising in Will writing.
- If you live in England or Wales: www.lawsociety.org.uk/en or call 020 7242 1222
- If you live in Northern Ireland: www.lawsoc-ni.org or call 028 9023 1614
- If you live in Scotland: www.lawscot.org.uk or call 0131 226 7411
If you would like to leave a gift to Heritage Crafts there are two main types of gifts:
- A residuary gift – is made from whatever is left over after all other gifts of money or specific items have been made. You can leave a share or percentage of the residue to Heritage Crafts. The great thing about a residuary gift is that you don’t need to worry about whether your estate will be able to afford it. This is because if your assets decrease a lot in your lifetime, a the value of teh gift will also decrease in proportion. A residuary gift allows for your loved ones to be look after first, and then a percentage of what remains can be left to charity.
- A pecuniary gift – is a fixed sum of money. It’s worth remembering that its value can be eroded by inflation over time
Our suggested wording if you would like to include a residuary gift to Heritage Crafts in your Will:
“I give to the Heritage Crafts Association (Registered Charity Number 1159208) of 81 North Street, Wellington, Somerset TA21 8NA the whole / [insert share as a %] share of my residuary estate absolutely to be used for its general charitable purposes and I declare that the receipt of the Heritage Crafts Association’s Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be sufficient discharge of my executor[’s][s’] duty.”
… or a pecuniary gift:
“I give to the Heritage Crafts Association (Registered Charity Number 1159208) of 81 North Street, Wellington, Somerset TA21 8NA the sum of £……………….. [insert amount in figures] absolutely to be used for its general charitable purposes and I declare that the receipt of the Heritage Crafts Association’s Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be sufficient discharge of my executor[’s][s’] duty.”
Did you know that charitable gifts in your Will are free of UK inheritance tax? Moreover, such gifts are deducted before inheritance tax is calculated, so can help bring down the amount of inheritance tax payable on the rest of your estate? Your solicitor, financial adviser or accountant can help you with inheritance tax planning.
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#matchMAKER opportunity!
Trainee Leather Artisan – Colour Restoration
Location: Newcastle
The Handbag Clinic is a luxury aftercare and resale service specialising in the restoration, authentication, and sale of designer handbags. They are seeking a creative individual to join their Artisan team.
The role involves working on a wide range of designer pieces, from brands such as Coach through to Hermès, supporting both direct-to-consumer repairs and aftercare services for luxury houses including Burberry, Bulgari, and Céline. A strong understanding of colour theory and an art-based background are essential, as precision, creativity, and attention to detail are key to delivering exceptional restoration work.
The role offers clear progression opportunities, including advancement to Artisan, Senior Artisan, and Technical Lead levels, as well as the chance to develop specialist skills such as working with exotic leathers or becoming an expert in Louis Vuitton replacement work.
Visit #matchMAKER via the linktr.ee in our bio to find out more.
#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
We are profiling the recipients of our latest round of Endangered Crafts Fund grants.
Mark Rochman, from Leeds, has been funded to gain bicycle frame making skills from Ellis Briggs Cycles and add bicycle making to the offering of @leedsbikemill, a workers cooperative currently offering bicycle repair and maintenance.
Mark’s grant is funded by an anonymous donation to the Endangered Crafts Fund.
Mark said: “I will be training to become an experienced bike frame builder with Paul at Ellis Briggs in Shipley. I hope to acquire the necessary tools to create a space to practice these skills here at Leeds Bike Mill, an organisation that is well-embedded in the Leeds cycling community. I hope to instill others with the same passion, curiosity and interest in steel bike frame building that I have, and perhaps one day create an inclusive and accessible space in Leeds for budding frame builders to share and practice their skills.”
This week’s #mondaymaker is Adam Cox @cavendishpianos – a piano maker.
Adam undertook a piano technology course at Leeds College of Music in 1993 and began building seriously in 2012, now running Cavendish Pianos in the Yorkshire Dales. Adam’s favourite part of his work is sitting down and playing a newly finished piano, as well as receiving customer satisfaction.
If you want to read an exclusive interview about Adam’s work, become a member of Heritage Crafts and learn more in the members portal: https://www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/join-us/
#heritagecrafts #pianomaking
We are profiling the recipients of our latest round of Endangered Crafts Fund grants.
Seth Kennedy @sk_mechanician, from Hertfordshire and London, has been funded to refurbish and provide storage for specialised tools, to be used to teach horologists and silversmiths to become watch case makers.
Seth’s grant is funded by the Julia Rausing Trust.
Seth said: “This endangered crafts funding is going to be instrumental in helping me to pass on my working knowledge of traditional watch case making to the next generation. In recent decades only a handful of practitioners have carried out this craft and it is critical to its future, and to the wider restoration of antique watches, that newcomers pick up these skills.”
📷 @paulreadphoto
We are profiling the recipients of our latest round of Endangered Crafts Fund grants.
Jessica Light @jessica_light_, from London, has been funded to train apprentice @annarayart in the craft of passementerie, and together explore new routes to market.
Jessica is the last working passementier left in the East End of London, one of the craft’s historic areas for production. She’s known as ‘The Tassel Queen of Bethnal Green’ and she brings a ‘measured couture-crafted anarchy’ to her passementerie where tradition meets modernity.
Jessica’s grant is funded by an anonymous donation to the Endangered Crafts Fund.
Jessica said: “I see myself as a link in a long passementerie chain that goes back centuries, and hopefully this funding will help ensure I won’t be the last link and the chain can continue growing. This funding will help widen the exposure of this endangered craft and push the creative possibilities by working collaboratively with artist Anna Ray.”
📷 @kristinperers
We are profiling the recipients of our latest round of Endangered Crafts Fund grants.
The Framework Knitters Museum @fwkmuseum, in Nottinghamshire, has been funded to commission, purchase and install new prototype bearded needles for their stocking frames, and train volunteers in their use.
The Museum’s grant is funded by the Julia Rausing Trust.
David Longford, Museum Manager, said:
“For the critically endangered craft of framework knitting this funding is incredibly significant for us. It will enable us to supply new needles to finally fully restore an 1840 frame, as well as use across our existing working frames. Thus increasing our capacity to demonstrate to visitors and to offer new training opportunities to learn this special craft.”
A straw hat maker, a watch case maker and a harp maker are among the recipients of a new round of grants to help safeguard some of the UK’s most endangered craft skills.
Heritage Crafts has awarded the grants through its Endangered Crafts Fund, which was launched in 2019 to increase the likelihood of at-risk craft skills surviving into the next generation. This round’s grants are funded by the Julia Rausing Trust, the William Grant Foundation and a private donor.
The seven successful recipients are:
• James Anderson @anderson_vintage06, from Luton, to restore antique straw hat making machines and buy a boater hat block for his blocking machine, as part of his mission to revive straw hat making in the town.
• Framework Knitters Museum @fwkmuseum, in Nottinghamshire, to manufacture, purchase and install new prototype bearded needles for their stocking frames, and train volunteers in their use.
• Seth Kennedy @sk_mechanician, from Hertfordshire, to refurbish and provide storage for specialised tools, to be used to teach horologists and silversmiths to become watch case makers.
• Jessica Light @jessica_light_, from London, to train apprentice @annarayart in the craft of passementerie, and together explore new routes to market.
• Gail McGarva BEM @gailmcgarva.boatbuilder, from Dumfries and Galloway, to secure a barn to become the Traditional Boat Building Beacon, in which to teach regional clinker-built boat construction.
• Mark Norris @marknorrisharps, from the Scottish Borders, to help open a school of harp making and develop a curriculum of tuition before the craft dies out in Scotland.
• Mark Rochman, from Leeds, to gain bicycle frame making skills from Ellis Briggs Cycles and add bicycle making to the offering of @leedsbikemill, a workers cooperative currently offering bicycle repair and maintenance.
Read more via the linktr.ee in our bio. We will be posting about each of the individual recipients over the coming days.
📷 David Longford, @paulreadphoto, @alicia_canter, @jamesglossop
Before Christmas the Heritage Crafts staff team attended a half-day workshop at @tufting_london. It was such good fun and a sure recommendation if your New Year’s resolution is to try something new.
Plus, initiatives like this have done wonders to increase the popularity of rug tufting and get it off of the Red List of Endangered Crafts.
@tess_osman @elizabeth.bizz.fretty @maryeluned_craft @ailsap22 @finnarschavir @weaverraedesigns @danielcarpenter_
