Craft Club launch Hook 1 Pass it On
Greens Norton Primary School Craft Club
The Crafts Council and UK Hand-knitting Association initiative Craft Club has just launched its second scheme Hook 1 Pass it On after a successful first year of activity.
There are now over 300 Craft Clubs currently teaching young people craft skills across the UK and the aim is to double this number by 2012.
Craft Club launched in 2010 in order to provide young people with the opportunity to learn craft skills from members of their community via free after-school clubs. Over 140 volunteers attended specialist training sessions in 2010 in order to learn how to pass on their skills to others and there are now over 1,700 volunteers nationwide. These include parents, members of local WI’s and lots of enthusiastic crafters who wanted to share their passion for craft.
TV personality and Crafts Council Craft Champion Linda Barker is an ambassador for Craft Club and says, “I can remember my mum teaching my siblings and I craft skills as a child and I immediately fell in love with making. It is a great gift to pass on skills that remain with you for life. I am so pleased that Craft Club is reaching so many children across the UK.”
Hook 1 Pass it On will teach young people how to crochet and will run alongside Knit 1 Pass it On that was launched last year. In 2010 Knit 1 Pass it On inspired a club to graffiti-knit a tree in their playground and a club to complete a sponsored knit with the teachers wearing all the knitted garments for the day.
As well as being a fun, inclusive and sociable activity – the clubs have a positive impact on schools’ wider educational remit; the pilot Craft Club at Lindens Primary in Sutton Coldfield received an outstanding report from Ofsted in 2010 with the project that the Craft Club worked on – Recycled Rainforest – receiving a special commendation.
ENDS
To see a short film on Craft Club please visit www.craftclub.org.uk
For more press images and information please contact Jill Read, Crafts Council Press Office, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7806 2549, Email: media@craftscouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors
• The UK Hand Knitting Association (UKHKA) is dedicated to raising the profile of yarn crafts through a variety of campaigns and initiatives including Knit1, Pass It On to encourage all knitters to pass on their skills to other people. For more information on all aspects of knitting and yarn crafts, including latest What’s On news, knitting clubs across the UK, Knitted Textile graduate showcase and awards, knitting artists and celebrities, knitted projects for all to join in, fascinating facts and statistics and links to numerous knitting related organisations and individuals visit the UKHKA site www.ukhandknitting.com
• The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
o We believe that craft plays a dynamic and vigorous role in the UK’s social, economic and cultural life.
o We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make, see, collect and learn about craft.
o We believe that the strength of craft lies in its use of traditional and contemporary techniques, ideas and materials to make extraordinary new work.
o We believe that the future of craft lies in nurturing talent; children and young people must be able to learn about craft at school and have access to excellent teaching throughout their education.
• 12% of the UK population visited a craft exhibition in 2009/10, and 18% participated in craft activity in the same year (DCMS/ACE Taking Part data update August 2010). (Taking Part is an ongoing survey being carried out by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England (ACE).
• More than 2.8 million visits were made to the Crafts Council website in 2009. To find out everything you need to know about where to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk and follow us on Facebook and Twitter
• Crafts Council Craft Champions are all active supporters of contemporary craft who signed up to the Craft Matters campaign at www.craftmatters.org.uk to say that craft matters to them. Current Craft Champions are; Linda Barker, Priscilla Carluccio, Sir Terence Conran, Siobhan Davies CBE, Duke of Devonshire, Norman Foster, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, Tricia Guild OBE, Sir Mark Jones, Jude Kelly OBE, Cath Kidston, Corin Mellor, Michelle Ogundehin, Grayson Perry, Jon Snow, Sheila Teague, Sandi Toksvig, Sir John Tusa and Jeanette Winterson OBE and Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE.
• Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, Arts Council England will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and a further £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
