Select Page

Who we are

The Heritage Crafts Association (operating as ‘Heritage Crafts’) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (not-for-profit) governed by a Board of Trustees and run by a small team of part-time staff.

*This page uses spam-safe email addresses: please replace the [AT] with the @ sign.

 

Staff

 

Daniel Carpenter – Executive Director

Daniel CarpenterDaniel has worked in the arts, crafts and heritage sectors for the past 18 years. He was one of the founders of Heritage Crafts back in 2009 whilst he was working for Creative Lives (formerly Voluntary Arts), the national charity set up to promote active participation in everyday creativity. He led Heritage Crafts’ Pre-Apprenticeship project in West Somerset in 2017, and was commissioned in 2018 to lead the research on the second edition of Red List of Endangered Crafts, before being recruited onto the staff team in 2019. He is a Trustee of Arts&Heritage, an Ambassador of The Fathom Trust, a judge for the Global Eco Artisan Awards, and a Committee of Recommendation Member for the Ambacht in Beeld Festival in the Netherlands.
daniel[AT]heritagecrafts.org.uk*

 

Mary Lewis – Head of Craft Sustainability

Mary LewisMary comes from a background steeped in craft. From an early age she could be found in a coracle or on a shave horse and is now a keen basket maker and knitter. Her work experience includes fundraising, project management, and developing accredited training and apprenticeships for coppice crafts. After a few years of yurt life in the South Downs managing the Sustainability Centre, she took up the role of Endangered Crafts Manager, making interventions, raising funds and developing projects to prevent heritage crafts skills and knowledge from becoming extinct. She is also Chair of the Ironbridge Coracle Trust.
mary[AT]heritagecrafts.org.uk*

 

Bizz Fretty – Membership and Administration Officer

Bizz FrettyBizz is a third-generation fiber artist. Her passion for making historical skills and objects accessible to everyone led her to work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and the Royal Academy of Arts. Prior to Heritage Crafts, Bizz grew the following for the AKC Museum of the Dog to 50,000 and fully reorganised the membership database. She completed a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies at King’s College London, focusing on Viking Age nalbinding. When she is not researching more medieval socks and mittens, Bizz is rolling another ball of yarn for a crochet project.
bizz[AT]heritagecrafts.org.uk*

 

Tess Osman – Grants and Awards Officer

Tess OsmanTess comes from a creative family and is passionate about safeguarding heritage craft skills and stories for generations to come. Tess is a keen green-wood worker, using predominantly green ash to make cleft-wood chairs and weaving ash-splint baskets with hand tools in traditional ways. With a varied career, mainly within the charity sector, Tess brings a wealth of knowledge in grant giving, fundraising, marketing and communications. When Tess is not bodging, she can be found along the coast path in north Cornwall with her dog Skye, or developing her Coptic bookbinding.
tess[AT]heritagecrafts.org.uk*

 

Ailsa Paterson – Finance Officer

Ailsa PatersonAilsa is a History graduate with a background in museum education. More recently, she has worked for a sports organisation as a Finance Officer and Administrator. Ailsa has had a passion for all sorts of crafts from a young age. She has taken courses in paper marbling, traditional upholstery and textiles art history, as well as completing a course in textile and fabric design at Central Saint Martins. She spends her spare time making handmade crafts and outfits for her toddler. When not crafting, Ailsa can be found training for her next marathon.
ailsa[AT]heritagecrafts.org.uk*