Heritage Craft Association Maker of the Year Award- Finalist 2022

From the Heritage Crafts Association (HCA) Website:

This Heritage Crafts Award is to recognise a heritage craftsperson who is outstanding in their specific craft and the contribution they have made to crafts in general. This award will recognise a contribution that is far beyond the ordinary, either a lifetime’s work dedicated to a particular traditional skill or an outstanding contribution to raising the profile of their craft. We expect this to be someone who makes excellent work and has done for a long time, someone who is held in high regard amongst their craft peers but it need not be the most glamorous or high-end craft; we promote the simple, humble crafts too.

After working as a letter cutter for over twenty years, receiving recognition of my work by the HCA was the greatest honour.

To be selected as one of the three finalists is a real honour, and I am really excited to be attending a reception at the Houses of Parliament later this year together with my wife, Hannah.

HM The King personally endorsed these awards with the statement:

As President of the Heritage Crafts Association, I am delighted to endorse this new awards scheme which supports and rewards excellence in the heritage craft sector.

The other finalists are listed below, and I look forward to meeting them and finding out about their work.

• Rachel Frost, bow-felted hat maker
• Hannah McAndrew, slipware potter