Essex Community Foundation is offering a grant of up to £2,000 to help endangered heritage crafts survive for the next generation.
The charity Heritage Crafts published the fourth edition of its 'Red List of Endangered Crafts' in May this year, which is the first of its kind to rank the UK's traditional crafts by their likelihood of survival.
In the report, four of the 259 crafts assessed were classified as 'extinct', 84 as 'endangered' and a further 62 as 'critically endangered'.
To help protect our cultural heritage, Heritage Crafts set up its Endangered Crafts Fund in 2019, and since then 59 grants have been awarded.
Applicants based in Essex can apply for any amount up to £2,000, which can cover training to learn a new craft or technique, training for an apprentice to pass on skills and knowledge, investing in more efficient tools or machinery or developing reduced-carbon routes to market.
The money can also be used to explore the use of alternative materials while maintaining the heritage character of your practice, or for innovative approaches to supporting and promoting endangered crafts.
Only crafts listed as endangered or critically endangered on the 2023 list are eligible for grants.
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Mary Lewis, endangered crafts manager at Heritage Crafts, said: "A combination of COVID, Brexit restrictions and spiralling energy costs have put additional pressure on the craftspeople who nurture some of our most important cultural traditions and skills.
"We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Essex Community Foundation to address the specific challenges to endangered skills and knowledge in Essex."
Recipients will receive support from Mary and the Heritage Crafts team to ensure that their project is a success.
Andy Payne Worpole, head of programmes at Essex Community Foundation, said: "Ensuring these traditional crafts are not lost forever is so important.
"We hope this funding will encourage applications from individuals who want to develop their skills or learn a new craft and where finance is the barrier to them achieving their goals."
The fund is now open for applications, with a closing date of Friday, October 6.
To apply go to www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/ecf-apply.
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