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.
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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.
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This week’s #mondaymaker is Pete Rix @rixandco – wood carver and rocking horse maker.
Pete has a commercial background in design and has been carving since the age of 14. Over the years he has developed his skills of sculpture and traditional woodcarving and in doing so has developed a true passion for these wonderful and timeless toys. In 2015 Pete and wife Anna founded Rix & Co. Anna heads up the finishing department and is responsible for the beautiful paint finishes and tack produced on each masterpiece.
The preservation and development of traditional craftsmanship is something close to Pete and Anna’s hearts, and maintaining the craft of the rocking horse maker is something they feel honoured to be a part of.
View Pete’s full profile on our Makers’ Directory: https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/maker/peterix/
#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #rockinghorsemaking
🛠️ We’re officially looking for the UK’s heritage craft Trainer of the Year 2026! 🛠️
One of our core missions is to ensure that craft skills aren’t just preserved, but passed down effectively. This award, supported by @marshawards, celebrates the incredible individuals who dedicate their time to training the next generation of UK makers.
The term ‘trainer’ is broad. We are looking for anyone who shares their expertise, including those running everything from beginner taster sessions to professional traineeships and apprenticeships. You can nominate a trainer you know, your own trainer or even yourself.
There is a £1,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we will award a Trainee of the Year Award for the best learner, also currently open for nominations.
📅 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/trainer-of-the-year/. Let’s make sure these vital skills continue to inspire and thrive! 🧶🏺🔨
📷 2024 finalist @garethrees75 by @upholsteryeducation
#heritagecrafts #crafttraining #crafttrainer #craftskills #heritagecraftsawards
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Glass Hub Internship
Location: Wiltshire
Deadline: 30 April 2026
The Glass Hub Internship Programme is a great opportunity for graduates in glass or those interested in pursuing a career in glass to develop their skills in a supportive environment as part of a team. Since the programme began in 2016, interns have proved invaluable to the running of the glass school and have developed their skills and confidence in glassmaking. They have produced their own work, assisted and taught students on glass courses and have gone on to produce their own work, teach or join teams elsewhere as assistants or artists.
The Glass Hub Internship is an educational work placement opportunity suitable for individuals looking to gain experience in glassmaking and glass education, alongside developing their own work in a well-equipped glass studio. The successful applicants will experience a variety of roles that will include ‘glass technician’ and ‘glass teaching assistant’. They will be trained in the operation and maintenance of glassmaking equipment as well as undertake real-world experience in the operation of a busy glass school.
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.
Do you know an extraordinary fashion textile maker? Someone who has pushed the boundaries of their craft over the last 12 months? If so, please consider nominating them for this year’s Fashion Textile Maker of the Year Award, supported by the @costume_society. 💃🕺
Whether a costume maker, dressmaker, tailor, pattern cutter, hat maker, milliner, or weaver of fabrics specifically for fashion garments, we want to celebrate their dedication to excellence. From glovemaking to corset making … if the work is exceptional, it belongs in the spotlight. Help us honour the makers who keep these incredible traditions alive.
There is a £2,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we will also award an Emerging Leatherworker, Weaver and Embroiderer of the Year, chosen from nominees in the first five years of their practice, with additional prizes of £1,000 provided by the Leathersellers’ Foundation, Rose Uniacke and the Broderers’ Company.
📅 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/fashion-textile-maker-of-the-year/
📷 2024 finalist Clare Campbell @pricklytartan
#heritagecrafts #fashiontextiles #costumemaking #accessorymaking #craftskills
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Trainee Jewellery Polisher
Location: Birmingham
Deadline: 13 March 2026
Signet is the name behind H Samuel and Ernest Jones. Together, they have more than 270 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. They are looking for a Trainee Jewellery Polisher to join their Repairs team on a 12‑month fixed‑term contract at their Birmingham Service Centre in Hockley.
As a Trainee Jewellery Polisher, you may already have some basic experience in jewellery repairs or polishing, or you may simply have a strong passion to learn the craft. Over the course of our structured 12‑month training programme, you’ll gain the skills needed to polish, clean, and finish precious metal jewellery to the highest standards.
On successful completion of the programme, you’ll have the opportunity to move into a permanent Jewellery Polisher position with Signet.
Find out 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.
Do you know an extraordinary precious metalworker working in silver, gold or platinum? Someone who has pushed the boundaries of their craft over the last 12 months? If so, please consider nominating them for this year’s Precious Metalworker of the Year Award, supported by the @royalmintuk. 💍🪙🍴👑
Whether a silversmith, jewellery maker, gilder, hand engraver, medal maker, concert flute maker, we want to celebrate their dedication to excellence. From silver spinning and polishing to engine turning and concert flute making… if the work is exceptional, it belongs in the spotlight. Help us honour the makers who keep these incredible traditions alive.
There is a £2,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we will also award a Young Metalworker of the Year Award, chosen from nominees in the first five years of their practice, with an additional prize of £1,000 provided by Heritage Crafts Benefactors Lucy and Laurence Butcher.
📅 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/precious-metalworker-of-the-year/.
📷 2025 finalist Alice Fry @alicefryjewellery
#heritagecrafts #preciousmetals #silversmithing #jewellerymaking #craftsmanship
This week’s #craftfocus is horse collar making.
Historically there were three separate trades: saddlery, collar making and harness making. However, today the demand dictates that collar making is done as a complete service with harness making. The collar is a vital part of the harness and must be the correct size and shape for the horse, and the skill lies in making a collar to fit an individual horse.
In the late-nineteenth century there were approximately 3.3 million working horses, and collar making and the other horse-related trades were thriving. However, by 1914 it had fallen to less than 25,000. As the number of horses fell, the market crashed and the horse-related trades fell into rapid decline. Today, the market for driving collars is much bigger than that for heavy horse collars, and England and mainland Europe provide the main market for handmade collars.
Techniques include leather cutting, thread making, stitching, stuffing straw, moulding straw with a mallet, and lacing. A related craft is hame making, and even that is now being done by collar makers themselves, with John Macdonald and Kate Hetherington making steel close plated brass hames.
Horse collar making is classified as critically endangered on our Red List of Endangered Crafts. The UK imports a lot of collars from North America, where the manufacturing process has been automated, using stuffing machines and short straw (chaff). While the quality is inferior to that of a handmade collar, they are substantially cheaper.
Images: @katehharnessmaker
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #horsecollarmaking
Ready to take your leatherworking skills to the next level? 💼
Heritage Crafts, in partnership with @theleathersellers, is now accepting applications for training bursaries of up to £4,000 in our craft-specific round!
Whether you are a newcomer looking to break into the industry or an early-career maker facing financial hurdles, this bursary is designed to help you gain skills in crafts that feature leather as a primary material. They can include but are not limited to saddlery, shoemaking, harness making, tanning, fashion, accessory making, and so on.
👉 Apply now via the linktr.ee in our bio or directly at https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/bursaries/leatherworking-bursaries/
Deadline: 5pm, Friday 30 March.
#leatherworking #tanning #heritagecrafts #creativecareers #UKcrafts
📷 2025 recipient @netteleathergoods
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