QEST receives funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for ‘Tradition in Transition: Youth Journeys Through Heritage Craft’.
18th March 2026
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been awarded £134,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for a new, major project, and we’re now recruiting to help us deliver it. ‘Tradition in Transition: Youth Journeys Through Heritage Craft’ looks ahead; bridging gaps in access, knowledge, and careers for underrepresented young people aged 16–25. The project combines three regional CraftLab programmes, follow-on Craft Career Kickstarter micro-grants to support individual progression, and a co-created digital Craft Traditions Library, leaving a legacy beyond the project. We’ll work in partnership across three regions, focusing on crafts with a strong legacy in their local areas: silver and pewter metalworking in Sheffield, shoemaking in Sleaford, and heritage weaving in Blackburn.
“This is a significant moment for QEST,” shared Deborah Pocock LVO, QEST’s CEO. “Over the past three years, we have taken substantial steps to engage and empower young people to see craft as a viable and exciting career. This has included the formation of 12 Craft&Making Clubs with the National Saturday Club, our Making the Future schools programme with Education and Employers, introducing an Emerging Maker Grant, creating the Craft Your Future online resource and establishing the QEST Youth Board. Building on these foundations, we’re delighted to further our relationships with regional partners, enabling us to reach more young people, widen access and offer new opportunities. Tradition in Transition celebrates our cultural heritage, materiality, skill and place, whilst equipping young people with the confidence and knowledge to shape what heritage craft looks for them in the future.”
Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are extremely proud to be supporting this project and safeguarding heritage skills and crafts that are at risk of being lost. It’s wonderful to think that, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, our investment will give young people the opportunity to develop skills for the future through heritage crafts and forge a career path for themselves whilst building on an important legacy.”
As part of this project, we’re hiring:
Youth Programme Co-ordinator
Fixed Term until Dec 2027, 3 days p/w.
View the Recruitment Pack and Apply.
Deadline: 5pm on Friday 24 April 2026.
CraftLab: Youth Workshops & Showcase
We will build on existing partnerships with Sheffield Museums, The Hub in Sleaford, and Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery to deliver youth programmes at each site in late summer 2026, February and June 2027 respectively. The venues and QEST will work with local youth groups from underrepresented backgrounds in the craft sector, particularly targeting Global Majority backgrounds in Sheffield and Blackburn, and rural youth in Sleaford, as well as master craftspeople willing to showcase their skills. The CraftLab programme will be free, offering local youth workshops, co-created showcases, and career events featuring demonstrations, hands-on activities and youth presentations.
The Hub, Sleaford said: “Tradition in Transition is deeply relevant to Lincolnshire and the wider East Midlands, a region with a rich but increasingly overlooked history of leatherwork and shoemaking. Today, opportunities for young people to engage with these heritage skills are limited, and specialist crafts such as shoemaking are underrepresented in regional creative provision. Learning a traditional craft gives young people more than technical skills – it gives them confidence, connection to place, and a sense that their creativity has value. Projects like this show these young people that heritage crafts are valued skills with future career prospects, and The Hub is thrilled to be partnered in this project.”
Sheffield Museums said: “Sheffield Museums are delighted to be working with QEST and the Heritage Fund on the ‘Tradition in Transition’ project. Sheffield has a vibrant community of metalwork artists and makers, and this project will enable young people to explore heritage craft skills, engaging with Sheffield’s unique designated metalwork collection as well as with local makers and creatives. The programme will increase their knowledge and confidence and help them to explore opportunities for future career pathways.”
Outreach and Engagement Officer and Cairnley McKenna, Visitor Engagement Officer from Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery shared: “At Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, we believe it is essential to create meaningful opportunities for underrepresented young people. Our Craft&Making Club with QEST and the National Saturday Club was established to introduce young audiences to the diverse career pathways within heritage crafts, offering access to skills, knowledge and creative experiences that may not always be available in the classroom. We are committed to building on this work and extending these opportunities to young people aged 16–25. We are very grateful to be part of the Tradition in forward to the programme ahead.”
Craft Career Kickstarter: Grants
Each CraftLab will be followed by an open call for participants to apply for micro-grants up to £750 (3–4 grantees per location). The grant will signpost age-appropriate training, mentoring, or travel to support skills in metalworking, shoemaking, or heritage weaving. Each grantee will receive mentoring from a craft practitioner and a Youth Board member for peer advice.
Craft Traditions Library: Digital Resource
The project’s legacy will be supported through a digital Craft Traditions Library. This interactive resource on QEST’s existing website will be developed by the QEST Youth Board with research and resources created by young people. The Library will feature a craft directory (starting with the four crafts in this project) and enriched by audio-visual documentation and will be launched at the end of the project. The Library will build on QEST’s existing online offering for career advice and resources, Craft Your Future, which was co-created and launched with the Youth Board in May 2025, to mark QEST’s 35th anniversary.
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. ‘Tradition in Transition: Youth Journeys in Heritage Crafts’ is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
