About
the national charity for heritage crafts
What we do
Heritage Crafts is the national charity for traditional heritage crafts. Working in partnership with Government and key agencies, we provide a focus for craftspeople, groups, societies and guilds, as well as individuals who care about the loss of traditional crafts skills, and work towards a healthy and sustainable framework for the future.
We are a UNESCO accredited NGO for Intangible Cultural Heritage and advocated for UK ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention of the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was announced by the UK Government in December 2023.
Our Mission
To support and promote heritage crafts as a fundamental part of our living heritage.
We do this through:
- Knowledge – researching the status of heritage crafts and identifying those crafts in decline or in imminent danger of being lost.
- Advocacy – communicating the vital importance of heritage craft skills to the public, Government, key agencies and organisations.
- Safeguarding – ensuring that the highest standard of heritage craft skills are passed from one generation to the next and are recorded for posterity where necessary.
- Support – supporting heritage craftspeople to continue to practice, nurture and pass on their craft.
- Engagement – actively raising awareness and interest in heritage craft skills with the wider public and offering opportunities to engage.
Our Values
Equity and inclusivity
Removing barriers to participation and fostering appreciation of heritage crafts across diverse communities
Credibility and authority
Reflecting the extensive expertise of our heritage craft communities
Collaboration and cooperation
Facilitating connection between makers, supporters and partner organisations
Sustainability and stewardship
Being mindful of the cultural, social, economic and environmental impacts of heritage crafts
Integrity and honesty
Operating openly, accountably and fairly
Continual learning and development
Safeguarding heritage skills by adapting to changing social, cultural and economic contexts
Craft inspiration direct to your inbox
Become a Heritage Crafts Fan and receive a free monthly newsletter about craft announcements, events and opportunities.
SubscribeFollow us on Instagram
Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Lily Thomas @lilywillow.jewellery, from Powys, has found living in rural Wales has impacted her access to further training opportunities in jewellery making and silversmithing. She will train on a one-to-one basis with renowned silversmith @raunihigsonjewellery. As well as establishing a successful business, Lily hopes to one day offer beginner workshops within her local community.
Lily’s bursary is funded by the Ashley Family Foundation, which supports a broad range of arts, community and social welfare projects in Wales, with a particular interest in supporting rural communities and environmental sustainability.
Lily said:
“Receiving this bursary is an incredible honour and I feel so lucky to have been selected. This funding gives me the opportunity to work one-to-one with a Master of the Craft, something I have only dreamed of being able to do. Together we will be honing my existing skills and building on them with a range of new techniques, supporting me to expand my designs and develop my career as a jeweler and metalsmith. I am beyond excited to get started!”
This week’s #mondaymaker is Michelle Mateo @chelle.mateo , a Monmouth-based early-career basket maker, green wood worker and leather worker. Awarded a Heritage Crafts training bursary in 2022 (funded by the City & Guilds Foundation), Michelle was able to train in split wood basketry, expanding her repertoire from ask to hazel and oak splint basketry, and to weave baskets in styles from the UK, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Spain and the US. Two forms of split wood basketry are currently listed on the Red List of Endangered Crafts.
#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #basketry #woodwork
Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Elena Fleury-Rojo @redflowerglass, from Essex, is a glass artist who wishes to develop her skills in the specialist field of scientific glass blowing. She will train with Brian Jones at the @nationalglasscentre in Sunderland. She plans to raise awareness of the craft of scientific glassblowing through her artwork, as well as offer other services such as making and repairing scientific glass apparatus.
Elena’s bursary is funded by the Maxwell Hanrahan Foundation, supporting innovative people working in field-based science, art and craft, teaching and protection of the natural world.
Elena said:
“Scientific glass blowing is an endangered craft in Britain. The Heritage Crafts bursary will give me the opportunity to learn from a master glassblower before it’s too late. Learning these skills will enable the craft to be passed on so that I can then pass them on to future generations.”
Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Tim Wills, from Devon, served for five years in the police before realising that his interest lay in craftsmanship and the outdoors. He will train in the endangered craft of Cornish hedging with @crestcornwall. He plans to set up his own business and to continue to support local charities to keep these skills alive.
Tim’s bursary is funded by the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, which funds charities operating in the UK in the fields of the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.
Tim said:
“I found rural crafts while trying to find an escape from my busy life in the emergency services. My craft has allowed me to leave that life behind, and the grant from Heritage Crafts will allow me to follow in the footsteps of so many that came before me and continue to pursue an ancient craft that is dying out.”
Re-scheduled event: Join Heritage Crafts in conversation with lime plasterer Daahir Mohamed @amarecoplaster on Zoom on Tuesday 29 October at 7pm.
Daahir Mohamed has worked in buildings conservation and renovation for the last 15 years, specialising in plastering and rendering, including using natural and traditional materials. Following a training bursary from Heritage Crafts in 2021, he completed the William Morris Crafts Fellowship in traditional lime plaster and render with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). In 2024 he ran a successful pilot training programme introducing refugees and asylum seekers to building conservation and lime plastering. He is now working to build on this concept and develop and expand the programme.
Alongside his day job, Daahir has played active roles in a number of charities including organisations supporting refugee rights in Bristol, and more recently as a Board member with the Building Limes Forum, and as a member of Heritage Craft’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee.
The session will take place on Zoom and attendees must register in advance via the linktr.ee in our bio. Attendees will also have the opportunity to submit questions in advance.
This week’s #craftfocus is silversmithing.
Silversmithing refers to the making of predominantly silver items, such as hollowware (vessels such as bowls, cups, candlesticks etc.), flatware, household and ecclesiastical items, sculpture and regalia.
Sub crafts include raising, hammer forming, chasing, repousse, joining, forging, spinning, polishing/ buffing/finishing, cutlery techniques, welding, enamelling, hinge making, plating, gilding and more.
Threats to the viability of the industry include a lack of funding for training opportunities, disengagement by mainstream education providers at degree level, and a lack of apprenticeships and other employment opportunities within the industry.
Positively, though, a new generation of designers and makers, supported by dedicated institutions and networks, are developing viable and sustainable businesses rooted in British craftsmanship.
Images: Wayne Meeten @waynemeeten
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #silversmithing #silver
Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Chanelle Brown @chanellebrown.art, from East London, will train in woodturning on a one-to-one basis with Mick Hanbury at Hope Woodturning, progressing to sculptural forms and advanced finishing techniques. As well as earning a living as a maker, Chanelle would like to share woodturning with young-people in London who might not otherwise get the opportunity.
Chanelle’s bursary is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund @heritagefunduk and made possible by money raised by National Lottery players.
Chanelle said:
“The Heritage Crafts bursary supports me with the opportunity to specialise in woodturning. I’ve noticed the profession is underfunded and lacking in diversity, which leads to many makers developing a design and craft practice based on restriction and scarcity. With the help of the bursary, I am able to develop my knowledge with good resources, and refine my skills safely and critically.”
Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.
Jamie Smith, from Argyll and Bute, has worked on traditional sailing vessels over the last four years, where he has picked up traditional skills of rope work, maintenance, sailing, and some woodwork. He will attend the International Boatbuilding Training College @ibtc_lowestoft in Lowestoft. He plans to work in Scotland and has industry contacts with employers who are looking for qualified boatbuilders.
Jamie’s bursary is funded by the William Grant Foundation, a funder of good causes connected to one of Scotland’s leading family-owned businesses, with a vision of a Scotland where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Jamie said:
“Boatbuilding is a craft I have been exposed to through working on traditional boats at sea. This training bursary has allowed me to take the next step, combining my passion of traditional boats and furniture making, and allowing me to learn the required boatbuilding skills to restore and build wooden boats. I am really excited and grateful for this opportunity Heritage Crafts has given me to support my training at IBTC and made it possible.”
