A voice for craft

The national charity for heritage craft skills

Supporting craft heritage

We are the national charity set up to celebrate, support and safeguard traditional craft skills, and to facilitate a national conversation about their importance to everyone now and in the future.

We are passionate about ensuring that everyone has access to craft skills that have developed over generations, and which we believe will be vital in helping us tackle the challenges of the future – and to be able to enjoy making as part of a fulfilled life.

Our Patron is His Majesty King Charles III.

About us

The Makers

Discover the craftspeople on our Makers Directory

The Skills

Browse our list of 285 UK heritage crafts, including those deemed at-risk

Training bursaries

Apply for one of our Heritage Crafts training bursaries

Awards

Nominate someone for our Heritage Crafts Awards

Latest stories

The British Cræft Prize

National Apprenticeship Week – highlighting our Apprentice-ship+ recipients

Sally Pointer in Conversation

experimental archaeology

Make a donation

Heritage Crafts was set up just fifteen years ago. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, advocating at the highest levels for crafts, publishing the Red List of Endangered Crafts, and distributing 95 grants through the Endangered Crafts Fund. We have awarded 131 training bursaries, established the Heritage Crafts Awards and shone a spotlight on our world-renowned makers through 33 National Honours successes.

Many more people are now aware of traditional crafts and the objects produced by those who carry in their hands, heads, and also hearts the skills and techniques that have been passed down through the generations.

To continue this work we need your support. Please consider making a donation, however big or small, to help ensure that heritage craft skills in the UK are given the opportunity to thrive.

You may also be interested in

Becoming a Member

Join our growing craft community that is helping to support, promote and safeguard heritage crafts skills for the future.

Becoming a Benefactor

For those who are able to provide an additional level of support for our work, find out about our Benefactor scheme.

Follow us on Instagram

#matchMAKER opportunity!

Timber Frame Site Crew

Location: Hereford
Deadline: 20 June 2026

As part of the Site Crew at Oakwrights, you’ll be hands-on in bringing exceptional timber buildings to life on sites across the UK. Working in small, highly-skilled teams, you’ll help erect beautiful green oak frames alongside modern softwood timber frame systems, including its award winning, pre-insulated panel systems.

You’ll travel to a mix of local and national sites, working closely with your foreman and teammates to assemble structures safely, accurately and efficiently. Every day is practical and varied, reading drawings, setting out, lifting and fixing structural elements, and solving challenges as they arise. You’ll take real pride in delivering high-quality workmanship that reflects Oakwrights’ reputation for excellence.

This role suits people who enjoy working outdoors, value teamwork, and are motivated to keep learning. For the right candidates, Oakwrights offer trainee opportunities, with training and support to help you grow within the team.

Find out more including how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker.

#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
Green woodworking is one of our most ancient and sustainable traditions, and we are looking for the next generation of talent to lead it into the future. Nominations are now OPEN for our new Emerging Green Woodworker of the Year Award supported by @woodsmith_uk! 🪓🌳🪵

This new award celebrates those in the first five years of their professional practice who are breathing new life into freshly cut wood, be that bodging and chair making, pole lathe turning, bowl and spoon carving, timber framing, hurdle making, shingle making, split wood basketry... or others.

We are looking for early-career practitioners who demonstrate a high level of skill and a dedication to sharing their craft. We want to recognise those who have made an outstanding start to their career, perhaps overcoming setbacks along the way to ensure long-term success.

There is a £1,000 prize for the winner to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we are also running similar awards in crafts, such as building crafts, with additional prizes of £1,000 provided by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and others.

📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)

➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/emerging-green-woodworker-of-the-year-award/

📷 2025 England Maker of the Year finalist Flo Hamer @flohamer

#heritagecrafts  #greenwoodworking #spooncarving #polelathe #timberframing
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales is home to an incredible wealth of traditional skills. We are thrilled to announce that nominations are now OPEN for the Wales Maker of the Year Award 2026 supported by @hiutdenim.

We want to recognise a heritage craftsperson in Wales who has made an outstanding contribution in the past 12 months. Whether you’ve pushed your craft to new heights or worked tirelessly to promote its survival, we want to champion the simple, humble and essential skills that define our communities.

There is a £1,000 prize for the winner to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, one winner from the four UK nations will have their prize topped up to £2,000, supported by the Marsh Charitable Trust.

📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)

➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/wales-maker-of-the-year-award/

📷 @raunihigson MBE 

#heritagecrafts #craftskills #walesmaker #madeinwales #traditionalskills
#matchMAKER opportunity!

Apprentice Sewing Machinist

Location: Manchester
Deadline: 27 May 2026

From hotels to guest houses, holiday lets to student accommodation, chalets to cruise ships, restaurants, spas, palaces, private jets and super yachts, Richard Haworth Ltd has been supplying a wide range of linens for over 140 years.

The company is currently seeking an Apprentice Sewing Machinist with good communication skills, punctuality and a strong work ethic. This is an 18 month apprenticeship leading to a Sewing Machinist (level 2) qualification.

The role will involve:

• Learning different sewing techniques using an industrial sewing machine, such as flat sewing, overlocking etc.
• Following instructions on a manufacturing specification
• Conducting quality checks throughout the production process
• Maintaining machinery

Find out more including how to apply at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/matchmaker.

#matchMAKER is the online platform for work-based training and entry-level employment opportunities hosted by @heritagecrafts and supported by @soanebritain.
Are you the future of heritage building skills? We are thrilled to announce that nominations are now open for our Emerging Building Craftsperson of the Year Award 2026, supported by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings @spab1877.

We are looking for someone in the first five years of their practice who has made an outstanding start to their career. This award is for the rising stars in stonemasonry or gauged brickwork, timber framing or carpentry, heritage tiling or plastering ... or any other craft focused on the construction, conservation or repair of buildings or structures.

We want to recognise those who are not only highly skilled amongst their peers but are also raising the profile of their craft. If you, or someone you know, has overcome setbacks to achieve success and is dedicated to the long-term future of heritage building skills, this is for you.

There is a £1,000 prize for the winner to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we are also running similar awards in crafts such as stained glass and green woodworking, with additional prizes of £1,000 provided by the British Society of Master Glass Painters, Woodsmith and others.

📅 Deadline: Friday 21 August 2026 (at 5pm)

➡️ Nominate someone (or yourself) today via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-awards/emerging-building-craftsperson-of-the-year/

📷 2024 winner Barney Murray @barneywalling

#heritagecrafts #buildingcrafts #traditionalbuilding #traditionalcrafts #constructioncrafts
Heritage crafts feature in the current edition of BBC @countryfilemagazine. From blacksmithing in rural Herefordshire to woodland crafts in North Wales, meet the makers keeping these age-old crafts alive – and discover how you can try them for yourself.

“Many traditional crafts and trades that were once practiced around the UK have now faded into obscurity, with remaining craftspeople and experts in single figures. We are now facing the threat of these crafts disappearing entirely – but since 2009, a national charity called Heritage Crafts has been dedicated to maintaining these crafts on the British Isles.”

Featuring @oldfieldforge, @woodlandskillscentre and @nethertonfoundry.

https://www.countryfile.com/how-to/crafts/heritage-trad-crafts-uk
Join us in conversation with passementerie weaver @jessica_light_.

The ‘Tassel Queen of Bethnal Green’, Jessica Light is London’s last working passementerie weaver and maker, and one of the last of a long line of passementeriers to be trained within what is now an extinct London industry. She is known for making innovative, design-led passementerie that is hand-woven and hand-made to order in her East London workshop using techniques dating back to the 16th century.

Jessica considers all the elements, from colour to material to concept, to create unique collections of tassels, trims, tiebacks, rosettes and one-off bespoke pieces. She uses these historic skills, like a potter using throwing techniques, as a means to create original passementerie designs that go beyond the traditions of perceived passementerie and look to the future.

The session will take place on Zoom and attendees must register in advance via https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/events/jessicalightinconversation/ or the linktr.ee in our bio. 

Attendees will also have the opportunity to submit questions in advance.

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