Heritage Crafts Association Awards 2018

Call for Applications: The Heritage Crafts Association Awards

Craftspeople urged to apply for awards and bursaries recognising traditional skills

The Heritage Crafts Association (HCA) has announced its call for applications for a suite of awards and bursaries recognising people working in traditional skills.

Craftspeople can be nominated for

Heritage Crafts Maker of the Year,
HCA/Marsh Trainer of the Year,
and HCA/Marsh Volunteer of the Year.

Nominations can also be made for the HCA/Marsh Heritage Crafts ‘Made in Britain’ Award.
Each award is worth £1,000.

Heritage crafts make up the largest part of the craft sector, yet many heritage crafts are endangered – please refer to The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts for more information. By funding these bursaries and awards the Heritage Craft Association and our partners, The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, The Arts Society and the Marsh Christian Trust, are helping people learn and preserve these heritage craft skills and heritage crafts.

The awards and bursaries make it possible to give recognition to the amazing work being done by skilled craftspeople and volunteers, and the contribution of heritage crafts to the UK economy. They also make it possible for people to develop their knowledge and passion for heritage crafts, and help ensure these crafts may continue to be enjoyed and practiced by future generations.

Patricia Lovett MBE, Vice-Chair of the Heritage Crafts Association, said: ‘The heritage crafts sector in England alone contributes £4.4 billion GVA to the UK economy each year, as much as the petrochemical industry. But for many years it has been completely ignored and is still not supported by the government. However, these bursaries and awards are a real boost for heritage crafts and craftspeople and mean it is a great time to be working in heritage crafts.’

Training Bursary

One bursary offered with the support of The Arts Society and worth up to £1,500 is also available, aimed at assisting the training of apprentices or those training to become craftspeople in heritage crafts. The HCA/Arts Society bursary can contribute, amongst other things, towards buying of tools or materials, the costs of attending specialist training, buying books or payment for training with a craftsperson.

Scholarship Bursary

There is also one Heritage Crafts Scholarship bursary offered of up to £18,000 with the support of The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST). The HCA/QEST Scholarship is for those who have completed an apprenticeship or equivalent and are of a reasonable standard in their craft and wish to take their training further in order to enhance their craft career.

The Awards

Heritage Crafts Association awards and bursaries include

Maker of the Year
HCA/QEST training scholarship
HCA/NADFAS training bursary
HCA/Marsh Volunteer of the Year
HCA/Marsh Trainer of the Year award
HCA/Marsh Made in Britain award

Application Deadline

The deadline for applications is 30th November 2017.

The awards will be presented at the Heritage Crafts Association’s Annual Conference in March 2018.

How to apply

For more information about the Heritage Crafts Association awards and bursaries, please visit awards.heritagecrafts.org.uk

The awards and bursaries have been made possible through the generous support of the Heritage Crafts Association’s funding partners, The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) the Marsh Christian Trust and The Arts Society.