First listing of endangered crafts announced by the Heritage Crafts Association and The Radcliffe Trust

6 May 2015

Thanks to a grant from the Radcliffe Trust, the Heritage Crafts Association is celebrating London Craft Week by launching an ambitious project to identify crafts at risk in the UK.

Traditional crafts working with wood, wool, iron and precious metals and many other materials are booming. Recent research for BIS (the Department for Business, Information and Science) shows that in England alone, over 210,000 people work in Heritage Craft businesses, using traditional hand skills to provide products and services in response to growing public demand. The sector generates £4.4billion for the economy of England, and is set to grow in the future; the research anticipates a 12% growth in employment in the period leading up to 2022.

Yet there are crafts that form part of our cultural heritage which are in real danger of dying out. The skills and techniques required are known by only a few, in some cases only one, as craftspeople become older and retire from their work, and there is no-one coming into the craft to take their place. Recent research(1) by the Heritage Crafts Association identified multiple pressures faced by craft businesses, including

  • shortages of skills (including business skills), and lack of entry routes
  • shortages of raw materials and supply chain difficulties
  • foreign competition
  • market pressures
  • lack of affordable places to live and work
  • lack of access to capital (including changes to legislation requiring significant capital investment)

Project Manager, Dr Pat Reynolds said “To this point, we have only anecdotal evidence of the danger facing this vital element of our heritage. The Radcliffe Red List of Crafts in Jeopardy in the UK will be a living document, highlighting the most vulnerable crafts, and where possible identifying what can be done to ensure that they join the thriving crafts”.

The Radcliffe Red List of Crafts in Jeopardy in the UK is the first systematic recording of the state of traditional crafts across the UK. This is a strategic project whichwill provide essential decision-making information to all those concerned to increase the sustainability of crafts – funders, advocates, and individuals who wish to take action.

In the first phase of the project, developing in partnership with the University of York, specialist craft groups will be invited to contribute what they know about the crafts they champion. Later in 2015, a website will be launched where the general public, can contribute what they know is happening locally.

(1)Crafts in the English Countryside (2014) An update on Crafts in the English Countryside: Towards a Future by E. J. T. Collins (2004) -

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Notes to editors:

  1. The Radcliffe Trust was established in 1714 as a charitable trust under the will of Dr. John Radcliffe, the most eminent physician of his day. The will provided for a permanent endowment, the income from which is used exclusively for charitable purposes.

The Trust has a policy of making grants principally in two sectors: Music and Heritage & Crafts.

  1. The Heritage Crafts Association is the advocacy body for traditional heritage crafts and works in partnership with Government and key agencies.
  2. The Heritage Crafts Association was established in 2009 to provide a focus for craftspeople, groups, societies and guilds, as well as people who care about the loss of traditional crafts skills, and works towards a healthy and sustainable framework for the future.
  3. The Heritage Crafts Association gained charitable status in 2010 and is registered with the Charity Commission as charity number 1133646. HRH The Prince of Wales is the President of the Heritage Crafts Association.