‘Buy Less. Buy Better. Buy Handmade’ This Christmas

With everyone feeling the squeeze this Christmas, Manchester’s award winning Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair (GNCCF) has joined forces with the Crafts Council and other leading UK craft organisations to launch a national Christmas shopping campaign, designed to support makers across the UK and encourage shoppers to Buy Less, Buy Better, Buy Handmade.  This initiative to promote thoughtful gifting has also received the backing of The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades MBE and The Great Pottery Throwdown’s Keith Brymer-Jones.

Ann-Marie Franey, GNCCF Director says:

“Our campaign message is that we don't need to fill our shopping baskets with piles of mass-produced presents to have a wonderful Christmas. Instead we can give – or ask for -  one really well-crafted, unique gift, handmade by a skilled maker.  By rethinking how we shop this Christmas, we can help support small independent businesses who are really impacted by the cost of living crisis  - and reduce our environmental impact at the same time.”

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair takes place annually in Manchester every October and has built up a national reputation over the past 15 years as a unique opportunity to see and buy high quality craft from over 200 selected makers. To coincide with the campaign they will be hosting an online version of their much loved fair – GNCCFonline over the weekend of 3-4 December, featuring 100 curated makers, selling handmade, beautifully designed craft.

As ever, the exhibitors have been handpicked by a panel of craft experts to bring you jewellery, fashion accessories, prints, furniture, functional pieces and objects for the home. You’ll find firm favourites as well as those exhibiting for the first time, including many makers from the region. It will be a one-stop shop for buying Christmas gifts that really will bring joy on Christmas morning.

Victoria Scholes, Development Director added:

“GNCCFonline is an online pop-up store dedicated to the handmade. It’s a chance to buy gorgeous quality one-off gifts (not forgetting a treat for yourself) direct from the makers without leaving your own home. Over the weekend you can also ‘visit’ makers virtually in their studios and get to know more about their stories and techniques. Watch out for further details of this via the GNCCFonline website and via our social media platforms.”

GNCCFonline Christmas Edition goes live 8am Saturday 3 December 2022 at the fair’s website www.greatnorthernevents.co.uk.  Watch out for special fair offers and maker open studios over the weekend on social media – follow #GNCCF.

For an opportunity to buy work before the general public, anybody who signs up to the mailing list via the website will get an exclusive invite to the Private View on Friday 2 December 2022 from 6pm.