HERITAGE Crafts has received funding from Essex Community Foundation to provide a grant of up to £2,000 through the Heritage Crafts’ Endangered Crafts Fund, which was launched in 2019 to increase the likelihood of endangered crafts surviving into the next generation.

Heritage Crafts published the fourth edition of its groundbreaking Red List of Endangered Crafts in May this year, 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 understand those at greatest risk of disappearing. Sadly, four were classified as ‘extinct’, 84 as ‘endangered’ and a further 62 as ‘critically endangered’.

As a result of this alarming threat to our cultural heritage, Heritage Crafts set up its Endangered Crafts Fund in 2019. Nationally, 59 grants have been awarded through the Fund since 2019.

Applicants based in Essex can apply for a grant for any amount up to £2,000 which can cover or contribute towards:

training to learn a new craft or technique;
training for an apprentice to pass on skills and knowledge;
investing in more efficient tools and machinery;
developing reduced-carbon routes to market;
exploring the use of alternative materials while maintaining the heritage character of your practice; or