FAQs
Here are a list of frequently asked questions. If your question is still not answered, please check out the contact us page.General
What is Heritage Crafts in one sentence?
Heritage Crafts is the UK 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.
What is a heritage craft?
Heritage Crafts defines a heritage craft as a craft that:
- employs manual dexterity and skill at the point of production;
- requires an understanding of traditional materials, design and techniques; and
- has been practised for two or more successive generations.
How do I get an entry added or updated on the crafts list?
Please email Mary at [email protected] with your query about the crafts list.
What is the difference between the crafts list and the Maker Directory?
The crafts list is the research list compiled and updated by Heritage Crafts on all of the heritage crafts in the UK, which is updated alongside the Red List of Endangered Crafts every two years.
The Makers Directory is a Heritage Crafts membership benefit that allows any of the charity’s members to have a profile to showcase their work as a maker.
Where is Heritage Crafts based?
The charity is 100% remote and does not have a bricks-and-mortar office.
Membership
Who can be a member of Heritage Crafts?
Anyone. Heritage Crafts membership is open to all, whether you are a professional craftsperson, an amateur maker, or someone who is craft curious.
Can I become a member if I am international?
Yes. We have members from across the world and are grateful for our international members’ support.
Is Heritage Crafts membership an accreditation for makers?
No. Our membership is a program that provides support to the charity while simultaneously building a community of makers and craft curious people alike who wish to support, engage and learn more about Heritage Crafts.
Should I be an individual member or business member as an independent entrepreneur?
If you run your own business solo, become an individual member. If your business has multiple people who would like to receive membership benefits, then become a business member (up to five people can receive membership digital content).
Grants/Bursaries/Awards
Can I apply for funding more than once?
Yes.
If I volunteer for Heritage Crafts, am I allowed to apply for funding?
Yes.
How long will it take to hear back about my application?
It depends on the funding opportunity and the amount of applicants.
Which funding scheme is right for me?
The Endangered Crafts Fund is for practitioners of at-risk crafts featured on the Red List of Endangered Crafts to overcome an obstacle or undertake a project to make their craft more likely to survive.
Training bursaries are for new entrants or early career craftspeople who are unable to progress because of the cost of training.
Heritage Crafts Awards are for recognition of something you have achieved, and usually come with a cash prize.
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This week`s #craftfocus is bookbinding.
Bookbinding is the assembling and fixing of the loose leaves of a book between a cover, either by gluing or stitching.
Techniques have altered throughout the centuries. The differentiation in materials, binding technique and style of the book may help make it possible to trace the date and origin of the book. Perfect binding was introduced to bookbinding in 1931: a form of binding books with glue instead of sewing.
Cold glues were first used in perfect binding until a ‘hot-melt adhesive’ was used to bind books, making the binding last longer than cold glue binding.
Binding systems excelled after the Second World War. Spiral binding had been in evidence since the 1920s, but it was not until later that this technique became an important part of office stationary.
While bookbinding is currently listed as viable on our list of crafts, threats to the practice include a lack of training facilities in the UK and the pulling of bookbinding courses at universities and colleges.
Those students in the UK who wish to become professionals have to pursue their training through short courses. Apprenticeships, traineeships and internships are few and far between.
Images: @boundbyhand
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #bookbinding
If you are a weaver aged 25 and under who has done something to be proud of in the last 12 months, please consider applying for this year’s Young Weaver of the Year Award, a partnership between Heritage Crafts and @roseuniacke. Or if you know another young person who might deserve the award, why not nominate them?
There is a £1,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November.
To apply, complete the nomination form via the linktr.ee in our bio before the deadline of 5pm on Friday 6 September 2024.
📷 2023 winner @larapaintextiles
#membermoment #Repost @guernseywillowbaskets with @use.repost
・・・
This week… meeting Their Majesties The King and Queen in Guernsey 🇬🇬
On Tuesday, my family and I had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Guernsey’s heritage and traditions, with a visit from Their Majesties The King and Queen.
My Dad @gaudionmax was super-proud that his family had been invited to demonstrate crab pot and fishing basket making for the King and Queen, and the opportunity to show how this endangered craft is being continued by his family.
The King spoke to each of us (and to Dad for quite a while!) about our local heritage and the craft of making willow crab pots and fishing baskets. He was very interested and he encouraged my family to continue making and keep this heritage craft going. He then addressed the nearby crowd asking if they all owned a Guernsey basket!
What a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the island’s unique traditions, with a visit from the King and Queen.
My niece, Phoebe, was also invited to present The Queen with a posy of @jamblinflowerfarm flowers and a Petit Ponier (made by me!).
@lasocieteg, @letricoteur guernsey jumpers (as modelled by Phoebe), @guernsey.ice_cream and @rocquettecider were amongst the other participants on The Crown Pier meeting Their Majesties. My brother @timgaudionartist also displayed one of his amazing local paintings.
It was really nice to hear The King mention that he is Patron of @heritagecrafts. His enthusiasm for our willow craft was evident. 🙌
#royalvisit #kingcharlesiii #queencamilla #guernsey #guernseywillowbaskets #heritagecrafts #royalfamily #kingandqueen
If you are a building craftsperson or conservator aged 25 and under who has done something to be proud of in the last 12 months, please consider applying for the inaugural Young Building Craftsperson of the Year Award, a partnership between Heritage Crafts and @englishheritage.
Examples of eligible crafts include, but are not limited to, timber framing, stonemasonry, gauged brickwork, heritage tiling and many others.
Or if you know another young person who might deserve the award, why not nominate them? There is a £1,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November.
To apply, complete the nomination form via the linktr.ee in our bio before the deadline of 5pm on Friday 6 September 2024.
📷 2023 training bursary recipient @llechen_lan
Our #mondaymaker Ali Holloway is a hand weaver with over 35 years of experience. She makes one off woven pieces for exhibition or for commission. These are often generated from walks through particular landscapes exploring the traces left by human habitation on a particular terrain and also reflecting on the relationship between her body and these landscapes. Using mainly plant dyed yarns and natural fibres she strives to make pieces that are always exploring the possibilities of the craft and at the same time honouring its history and long traditions.
Dying is integral to her process and as well as space dying the yarn she uses she also will submerge an entire cone of yarn in a dye bath so that as this yarn is woven the colour gradually leeches out. As well as making her own work Ali also teaches weaving classes from her studio, in schools and other community venues.
Ali’s profile can be found on our maker’s directory: https://www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/maker/ali-holloway/
#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #craft #weaver #weaving
If you are an upholsterer aged 25 and under who has done something to be proud of in the last 12 months, please consider applying for this year’s Young Upholsterer of the Year Award, a partnership between Heritage Crafts and @sonnaz_. Or if you know another young person who might deserve the award, why not nominate them?
There is a £1,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November.
To apply, complete the nomination form via the linktr.ee in our bio before the deadline of 5pm on Friday 6 September 2024.
This week`s #craftfocus is button making.
Needlework techniques are the most common method for making this type of button. Threads are wrapped, wrapped and woven, or stitched to create the many varied designs. The yarn is repeatedly bound over a disc or a ring. The process follows casting, slicking, laying and rounding.
Button making is currently listed as viable on our list of crafts. However, threats to the longevity of the craft include a lack of awareness, market issues, a dilution of skills and no universal standard for button making.
#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #buttonmaking
If you are a traditional woodworker aged 25 and under who has done something to be proud of in the last 12 months, please consider applying for this year’s Young Woodworker of the Year Award, a partnership between Heritage Crafts and @axminstertools. Or if you know another young person who might deserve the award, why not nominate them?
There is a £1,000 prize for the winning entry to be presented at a high-profile Winners’ Reception in November. Plus, we will also award an @axminstertools Woodworker of the Year Award, chosen from nominees of any age, with a prize of £2,000.
To apply, complete the nomination form via the linktr.ee in our bio before the deadline of 5pm on Friday 6 September 2024.
📷 2023 winner Harry Morris @htmorrisfurniture
