Crafts Council

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Crafts Council 〰️

PARTICIPATION & YOUNG PEOPLE
(STRATEGIC PROGRAMME LEADERSHIP)

London, UK
Arts Council England

At Crafts Council, I led the strategic development and delivery of Young Craft Citizens, a national programme creating alternative pathways into the craft and creative industries for 16–30 year olds.

Operating within the UK’s national development agency for contemporary craft, the work focused on designing participatory programme infrastructures, embedding paid professional opportunities, and building leadership pathways for young people - particularly those impacted by structural inequality within the creative sector.

PROGRAMME ARCHITECTURE

I developed and delivered a scalable programme model combining:

  • Paid placements and industry-facing commissions

  • Co-created public events and peer-led activity

  • Advisory structures enabling young people to influence institutional direction

  • Professional mentoring and sector navigation support

The programme operated not as outreach, but as a structural intervention addressing access, representation, and professional sustainability within contemporary craft ecosystems.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS & CROSS-SECTOR ALIGNMENT

A central component of the work involved forging partnerships across cultural, commercial, and civic sectors to expand opportunity and resource flow into the programme.

This included establishing a funding and programming relationship with TOAST Creative Residency, directing a percentage of on-demand sales to support Young Craft Citizens while embedding youth engagement within a national design platform.

I also initiated and delivered a cultural partnership with Get Living’s Lab E20, enabling Young Craft Citizens members to design and lead public events within a regenerative design programme, providing paid production experience within a high-profile urban cultural context.

Additional partnerships spanned higher education institutions, independent makers, local authorities, and industry stakeholders, positioning young participants within live professional networks.

INSTITUTIONAL
IMPACT

Through this work, Young Craft Citizens strengthened its position as a nationally recognised model for youth-led cultural participation within contemporary craft.

By integrating paid opportunity, advisory governance structures, and cross-sector collaboration, the programme moved beyond short-term engagement activity and contributed to longer-term institutional shifts around equity, representation, and professional access. It enabled young practitioners not only to participate in the sector, but to influence its direction through structured consultation, leadership development, and direct involvement in live cultural programming.

The programme also demonstrated how national cultural agencies can redistribute visibility, resource, and decision-making power to emerging practitioners, supporting a more sustainable and inclusive future for the craft ecosystem.