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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Five-day Ceramic Painting Masterclass with Lee Price at Duchess China 1888
35 new training bursaries awarded
2027 Calendar Photography Competition
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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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Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.
Viola Prokopova, from Middlesex, represents the eighth generation of violin makers in her family and has studied violin making both in the family workshop and in the Czech Republic. Her bursary will fund her first-year tuition fees on the Fundamentals of Violin Making programme at the @newark_school_of_violin_making.
Viola’s bursary is supported by the Dulverton Trust.
Viola said: “Attending Newark School of Violin Making has been my dream for over two years. Heritage Crafts and teh Dulverton Trust have helped make it a reality.”
This September saw the presentation of the inaugural Lady Mayor’s Livery Apprentice Awards to celebrate twelve outstanding apprentices across the City’s historic Livery Companies, as part of her Heritage Crafts Taskforce.
Hayden Mackenzie @studiohaydenmackenzie, upholsterer, was nominated by the @theupholdersliverycompany.
Hayden Mackenzie is an upholsterer and textile designer who brings a unique blend of traditional craftsmanship and vibrant contemporary design to his practice. As the founder of Studio Hayden Mackenzie, he specialises in bespoke upholstery alongside hand screen-printing and digital pattern design tailored for luxury interior fabrics. His high-end interior collection ‘The Macaroni Club’ draws inspiration from the flamboyance of the Grand Tour to celebrate early icons of queer style. Hayden’s keen eye for detail, worksmanship and respect for historical upholstery, has seen him work sympathetically on the Royal Collection’s upholstered furniture.
Congratulations to all the winners and to former Heritage Crafts Chair Patricia Lovett MBE and Richard Hefford-Hobbs for organising the awards.
Five-day Ceramic Painting Masterclass with Lee Price @ukceramicartist at @duchesschina1888 – supported by @goldsmithsfoundation. 🎨
📍 Where: Duchess China 1888, Uttoxeter Rd, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 1PB
⏰ When: 7 to 11 December 2026, 10am to 4pm each day with a lunch break (lunch provided)
💰 Cost: £300 (three free bursary places available for those from under-represented communities or facing financial hardship – subject to availability)
✍️ Application deadline: Sunday 1 November 2026
Join prestige artist Lee Price for a five-day intensive course on the art and endangered craft of ceramic painting to create a masterpiece.
With close to forty years of experience holding the mantle of decorative ceramic heritage, Lee is one of the unsung heroes of British craft. He works out of Duchess China 1888, one of the few remaining producers of fine bone china in the UK, and home to a wealth of knowledge, experience and skill at the heart of the historic Potteries in Longton.
At the end of the course, participants will have learned the principles of ceramic painting and will take away their own hand-finished piece, an original Duchess China 1888 eight-inch plate with a hand-painted centre, three side panels and raised paste gold sprays on a black border.
This course is not intended as an ‘experience’; it is for working practitioners who intend to incorporate these skills into their ceramics practice.
To ensure equitable access to this vital training opportunity, we are providing three free bursary places for individuals from under-represented communities or facing financial hardship – subject to availability.
Please note, places will be allocated based on suitability. Please fill in the application form and Heritage Crafts will contact you with news of whether you have been accepted onto the course.
📲 For more details and to apply, please visit the linktr.ee in our bio or https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/our-stories/ceramicpaintingmasterclass/.
#matchMAKER opportunity!
Trainee Stained Glass Conservator
Deadline: 2 November 2026, noon
Where: York
The York Glaziers Trust is seeking to recruit a trainee stained glass conservator to join its team.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a strong interest in traditional craft skills and the heritage sector, a passion for detail and a commitment to excellence. You will train alongside a team of sector leaders in stained glass craft and conservation, working in and around the magnificent setting of York Minster, with the chance to work at other historic sites throughout the UK, including the University of Oxford and Lincoln’s Inn, London.
As a member of a key partner in the York Minster Centre of Excellence in Heritage Skills and Estate Management you will interact with other heritage trades. You will develop high levels of skill in one of the most competitive and sought-after areas of the historic glass and glazing craft.
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.
Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.
Elliot Greenfield, from London, is a self-taught jeweller and the founder of jewellery label @ex.astudio. His bursary will fund one-to-one weekly masterclasses in traditional hand engraving and stone setting with master diamond setter John Daniels FIPG @diamondsetting4u.
Elliot’s bursary is supported by the Capri Holdings Corporate Foundation.
Elliot said: “Securing this funding from heritage crafts means the world to my practice, allowing me to gain meaningful training and develop my skills beyond what I could imagine!”
Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.
Sophie Buckingham @buckingham_sophie, from Cardiff, has a background in textile design, printmaking and community arts, combining creative practice with vitreous enamelling. Her bursary will fund bespoke one-to-one tuition in London with silversmith @jackyolivermetalwork, focusing on traditional metalworking, three-dimensional construction and fastening techniques.
Sophie’s bursary is supported by the Dulverton Trust.
Sophie said: “I’m so delighted to have secured this funding and to have the opportunity to join the Heritage Crafts Recipient Circle. This will enable me to undertake a series of one-to-one bespoke metalwork training with Jacky Oliver in her London studio. This funding will be a huge support and help me to build a sustainable craft practice that combines enamelling, silversmithing techniques and traditional metalworking in the craft sector.”
This September saw the presentation of the inaugural Lady Mayor’s Livery Apprentice Awards to celebrate twelve outstanding apprentices across the City’s historic Livery Companies, as part of her Heritage Crafts Taskforce.
Victor Perez-Alvarez @martin_alteman, watchmaker, was nominated by the @clockmakerscompany.
Victor started off teaching himself the basic skills of watch servicing, practising on simple watches with only a few components. Following the Clockmakers’ Company Advanced Apprenticeship over 18 months, he has learned to service complex watches with many interacting parts, and is now adept at correcting the distortion of balance springs and manufacturing individual replacement watch parts.
Congratulations to all the winners and to former Heritage Crafts Chair Patricia Lovett MBE and Richard Hefford-Hobbs for organising the awards.
Over 35 posts we are profiling the recipients of our latest round of training bursaries.
Gavin Roberts, from Somerset, is an army engineer transitioning to civilian employment who has completed six modules towards his historic building repair qualification. His bursary will fund four remaining @westdeancollege diploma modules covering lime plasters, slate and stone masonry, earthen mortars and wildlife management.
Gavin’s bursary is supported by the Royal British Legion.
Gavin said: “This funding will broaden my practical skills in traditional heritage crafts, including lime plasters and renders, stone and woodwork. As an engineer in heritage building maintenance, it will strengthen my ability to care for historic buildings using traditional methods, while providing an important stepping stone as I transition from the military into a new career in heritage conservation.”
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