THE HERITAGE CRAFTS ASSOCIATION: ENDANGERED CRAFTS FUND

 Small grants are available to UK voluntary and community organisations and individuals, especially craft practitioners for projects that support endangered crafts listed on the Red List of Endangered Crafts.
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o Application deadline: FRIDAY 25th OCTOBER 2024 at 5pm.
o Funder: The Heritage Crafts Association (founded 2014. Charity number 1159208. Total charitable expenditure for the year ended 30 June 2023: £202,727).
o Who can apply: voluntary and community organisations and individuals in the UK that can demonstrate that they are working the skills and knowledge that are listed on the Red List of Endangered Crafts (see link below).
o Key words: Endangered and Critically Endangered Crafts, Heritage Craft Skills, Equipment, Business Development, Staffing, Education, Continuous Professional Development, East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom.
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Thanks to support from the Pilgrim Trust, the Radcliffe Trust, the William Grant Foundation, the Sussex Heritage Trust, and private donors – the Heritage Crafts Association is inviting craft practitioners and organisations in the UK to apply for small grants to fund projects that support endangered crafts (the craft must be listed as endangered or critically endangered on the current Red List of Endangered Crafts). A number of grants are ringfenced for East Sussex, West Sussex, and Brighton and Hove, but those outside of these areas are also eligible to apply.

Heritage Crafts published the fourth edition of its Red List of Endangered Crafts in May 2023, the first research of its kind to rank the UK’s traditional crafts by the likelihood that they will survive into the next generation. The report assessed 259 crafts to ascertain those which are at greatest risk of disappearing, of which four were classified as extinct, 84 as ‘endangered’ and a further 62 as ‘critically endangered’. As a result of this threat to the UK’s cultural heritage, Heritage Crafts set up its Endangered Crafts Fund in 2019 and 59 grants have since been awarded nationally. Examples of some previous awards are provided on the Heritage Crafts website.

Grant awards are discretionary – there is no minimum or maximum grant award. However, during the year ended 30th June 2024, the Charity awarded grants totalling £24,162 from its Endangered Crafts Fund, so awards are likely to be modest.

Applications could include (please note that this is not an exclusive list):

Implementing changes that will ensure the longer-term viability or survival of heritage craft skills, for example:
o Developing a new, innovative approach to heritage craft skills.
o Investing in more efficient machinery.
o Developing new routes to market, and
o Exploring the use of sustainable alternative materials while maintaining the heritage character of your practice.

Direct and indirect skills transfer, for example:
o Taking on a trainee or apprentice.
o Preparing to teach courses, including the creation of training materials.
o Online or video content to support skills sharing and documentation, and
o Specialist tools and equipment to facilitate training.

Continuous Professional Development, for example:
o Acquiring the knowledge and skills required to run a successful small business.
o Acquiring the advanced craft skills or allied craft skills necessary to make a craft practice more viable (for instance, through a training course or self-directed learning).

In addition to a grant, successful applicants will receive support from the Grants and Awards Officer and rest of the Heritage Crafts team to ensure that projects are successful. This will be unique to each project but could include mentoring support, business support or signposting to other opportunities.

Further information, guidance and details about how to apply can be found on the Heritage Crafts website.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 25th October 2024.