Heritage Crafts is a national charity that provides support for traditional heritage crafts. The charity offers a selection of grants and bursary schemes to support makers with skills development and to ensure the viability and sustainability of craft businesses.
The following opportunities are available:
Maker Relief Fund: small grants for people facing financial hardship while striving to make their living as a professional craftsperson. The grants are for: people on low incomes; working class people; black and ethnically diverse people; people with disabilities, who identify as neuro-divergent and/or have physical or mental health issues; members of the LGBTQIA+ community; or people with caring responsibilities. 50 grants of £1,000 are available over the next year.
Training Bursaries: up to £4,000 to subsidise the costs of training in a heritage craft. The bursaries can be for people just starting out as a craftsperson or for early-career makers. The next training bursary round is due to open in January 2025 for specific crafts, and then an open round for any heritage craft will launch around May 2025.
Heritage Crafts Awards: to celebrate and highlight traditional living crafts which require a significant degree of hand skill. The next round opens in early 2025.
Endangered Crafts Fund: craft practitioners and organisations can apply for small grants to fund projects that support endangered crafts (Applications for 2024 have now closed)
Young Makers Exhibition: makers and craftspeople aged 25 and under can apply to take part in an exhibition at New Brewery Arts in Cirencester in 2025. Apply by 1 December 2024
Focus of fund/fund aims:
Support for heritage crafts
Application deadline:
Refer to the individual schemes