Our manifesto

Participation in craft-related GCSEs and the number of higher education craft courses is falling, yet craft contributes £3.4 billion to the UK economy and employs over 150,000 people in industries including fashion, film, medicine and engineering. An education in craft develops creativity, inventiveness, problem-solving and practical intelligence. It also produces the makers of the future. 

It is why the Crafts Council along with partners, developed Our future is in the making: an education manifesto for craft and making, which launched on the 10 November 2014 at the House of Commons. With five calls for change forming a unified plan of action the manifesto aims to secure the future of craft education.

Since its launch the manifesto has attracted great attention, raising awareness of the crisis in craft education and inspiring the sector to put in place actions to create a new environment to improve craft education and training. 

Our work on Make Your Future responds to the manifesto and brings together expert partners, secondary schools, and makers to reignite a passion for making in schools and tackle some of the challenges faced by craft education.

As the sector leader for craft education, the Crafts Council continues to work on initiatives and advocacy activities to bring about more improvements.