Funding and Recognition Opportunities with Heritage Crafts

19 Jul 2024

Training bursaries

The deadline for our open craft training bursaries has been extended to 5pm on Friday 2 August 2024.

 28 training bursaries are available for this round. Each offering the chance to invest £4,000 for talented new entrants and early-career practitioners to train in any heritage craft.

For many, affording the costs of training (whether formal courses or on a 121 basis with a maker) is just too challenging. With apprenticeships dwindling or choosing to come into a craft later in life, we want to open opportunities to those who might otherwise be lost to the heritage crafts sector at a key moment in their early career.

• Individuals can apply for up to £4,000 towards costs of training.
• Of the 28 bursaries available, 2 will be allocated to Black and ethnically diverse trainees, 6 to British military veterans, 5 to trainees who intend to work in Scotland and Wales, and 3 to rural crafts, decorative crafts and endangered crafts. The remaining 11 will be allocated depending on individual need. You will automatically be considered for the general funding pot as well as all of the categories that apply to you.
• Any craft that has been practiced in the UK for two or more generations is eligible.
• We encourage applicants to apply for the full £4,000 to maximise the impact the bursary will have to develop their hand-skills in their chosen craft.
• It does not need to be a wonderfully crafted application. Explain the challenges to accessing training you face and how the bursary can help overcome them.
• You can apply for more than one course/training opportunity. Your training can take place from September 2024 and run over the course of a year to really demonstrate the learning and impact of your skills. For example, you might do a formal course, take the learning away and practice and then a few months later book a one-to-one session with a master to further refine your skills.  

View Training Bursaries

Awards

The deadline for our awards is 5pm on Friday 6 September 2024.

 Our second round of recognition awards have just opened for nominations. These include craft-specific awards for Woodworker, Precious Metalworker, Fashion and Textile Maker, Leatherworker and Potter of the Year, and young maker (25 and under) awards for Young Woodworker, Young Metalworker, Young Upholsterer, Young Weaver, Young Leatherworker, Young Embroiderer and Young Building Craftsperson of the Year.

• Applying for an award is free.
• Prize money (£2,000 or £1,000) is allocated for each award.
• Nominees can be any age (although 25 and under for the Young Maker Awards)
• Applicants may nominate themselves, or can be nominated by others.
• For some makers it can feel odd to think about applying for recognition towards your work. We would encourage all craftspeople, no matter how humble, to come forward for representation.  
• Our Young Maker awards are a chance to shine a spotlight on new and emerging talent. If you know someone who deserves recognition for their dedication to a craft, please do submit a nomination.
• The deadline for nominations for this round of awards is 5pm on 6 September 2024.

Enter Heritage Crafts Awards

Source: Heritage Crafts