Deadline: 21-Aug-2026
The Heritage Crafts Awards recognise and celebrate individuals who preserve, promote, and advance traditional heritage craft skills and trades across the United Kingdom. The awards support a broad range of heritage crafts and acknowledge excellence in craftsmanship, training, community engagement, endangered crafts, and emerging talent.
Overview
The awards cover heritage crafts including silversmithing, dressmaking and tailoring, upholstery, weaving, leatherworking, metalworking, stained glass, green woodworking, embroidery, woodworking, fashion textile crafts, building crafts, precious metalworking, community craft engagement, craft training, and endangered traditional crafts. The programme also highlights emerging practitioners, long-term contributions to craft preservation, and efforts to increase public participation in heritage crafts.
Award Categories and Funding
- Patron’s Award for Endangered Crafts
- Funding: £5,000
- Runner-up grant: £1,000
- Open to esteemed practitioners of endangered crafts whose proposal demonstrates the strongest use of funding to help secure the future survival of the craft.
- Maker of the Year Awards (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)
- Funding: £1,000 each
- Recognise heritage craftspeople who have made exceptional contributions to their craft during the previous twelve months.
- Applicants should demonstrate outstanding skill, promotion of their craft, or contribution to its continuation and preservation.
Specialist Craft Awards
- Precious Metalworker of the Year Award
- Funding: £2,000
- Open to practitioners whose primary material is precious metal.
- Eligible crafts include jewellery making, silversmithing, gilding, hand engraving, medal making, silver spinning, metal thread embroidery, engine turning, and concert flute making.
- Fashion Textile Maker of the Year Award
- Funding: £2,000
- Open to practitioners of fashion textile crafts.
- Eligible areas include costume making, dressmaking, tailoring, pattern cutting, millinery, glovemaking, fabric pleating, corsetry, and weaving for fashion garments.
- Applications demonstrating strong practical hand skills are particularly encouraged.
- Woodworker of the Year Award
- Funding: £2,000
- Open to practitioners whose primary material is wood.
Emerging Craft Awards
Several awards recognise early-career practitioners who demonstrate exceptional skill and commitment to their craft.
- Emerging Building Craftsperson of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Open to practitioners involved in the construction, conservation, or repair of buildings.
- Includes crafts such as stonemasonry, heritage tiling, gauged brickwork, and timber framing.
- Emerging Leatherworker of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Open to practitioners working primarily with leather.
- Includes saddlery, shoemaking, harness making, tanning, fashion, and accessory making.
- Emerging Upholsterer of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Open to upholsterers within the first five years of professional practice.
- Recognises strong craftsmanship and efforts to raise awareness of upholstery.
- Emerging Weaver of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Open to textile weavers within the first five years of professional practice.
- Recognises exceptional skill and commitment to promoting weaving.
- Emerging Green Woodworker of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Includes chair making, bodging, timber framing, pole lathe turning, bowl carving, spoon carving, cleft-wood work, and split wood basketry.
- Emerging Stained Glass Maker of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Open to practitioners involved in stained glass window making, stained glass conservation, or glass painting.
- Emerging Embroiderer of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Open to embroiderers within the first five years of professional practice who demonstrate high levels of skill and contribute to increasing appreciation of embroidery crafts.
- Emerging Metalworker of the Year Award (£1,000)
- Open to practitioners using metal as their primary material.
- Includes blacksmithing, coppersmithing, bronze casting, cutlery making, silversmithing, and brass instrument making.
Training and Community Awards
- Trainer of the Year Award
- Funding: £1,000
- Recognises individuals supporting heritage crafts through teaching, tutoring, mentoring, workshops, masterclasses, and one-to-one training.
- Trainee of the Year Award
- Funding: £1,000
- Open to individuals who have undertaken significant practical craft training for at least twelve months through apprenticeships, traineeships, institutional courses, or portfolio-style learning.
- Community Catalyst of the Year Award
- Funding: £1,000
- Recognises individuals who actively promote the benefits of craft within their communities and encourage wider participation in heritage crafts.
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Funding: £1,000
- Honours a heritage craftsperson who has contributed to their craft for at least twenty-five years.
- Recognises exceptional skill, dedication, and long-term impact on the preservation and reputation of a craft.
Who is Eligible?
Eligible applicants may include:
- Heritage craftspeople
- Practitioners of endangered crafts
- Precious metalworkers
- Fashion textile makers
- Woodworkers
- Leatherworkers
- Weavers
- Upholsterers
- Embroiderers
- Stained glass makers
- Building crafts practitioners
- Metalworkers
- Trainers and mentors
- Trainees and apprentices
- Community craft advocates
Some awards are specifically intended for practitioners within the first five years of professional practice, while the Lifetime Achievement Award is intended for those with at least twenty-five years of contribution to their craft.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What are the Heritage Crafts Awards?
- The awards recognise individuals who preserve, promote, and advance traditional heritage craft skills and trades across the United Kingdom.
- Which award offers the highest funding?
- The Patron’s Award for Endangered Crafts provides £5,000 to the winner and a £1,000 runner-up grant.
- Are there awards for emerging practitioners?
- Yes. Multiple categories support early-career practitioners, including leatherworkers, weavers, upholsterers, embroiderers, metalworkers, stained glass makers, green woodworkers, and building craftspeople.
- Are there region-specific awards?
- Yes. Maker of the Year Awards are available for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
- Is there support for craft trainers and trainees?
- Yes. Separate awards recognise individuals involved in craft training, mentoring, and practical learning.
- Who can receive the Lifetime Achievement Award?
- Heritage craftspeople who have contributed to their craft for at least twenty-five years through exceptional skill, dedication, and long-term impact.
- What types of crafts are covered by the awards?
- Eligible crafts include silversmithing, tailoring, weaving, leatherworking, upholstery, woodworking, embroidery, stained glass, building crafts, fashion textile crafts, precious metalworking, and endangered traditional crafts.
Conclusion
The Heritage Crafts Awards celebrate individuals who are helping to preserve and promote traditional craft skills across the United Kingdom. With funding ranging from £1,000 to £5,000, the awards recognise excellence in craftsmanship, support endangered crafts, encourage training and education, and highlight contributions to community engagement. Through categories for established makers, emerging practitioners, trainers, trainees, and long-serving craftspeople, the programme aims to support the continued growth and preservation of heritage crafts.
For more information, visit Heritage Crafts Association.