Impact Arts

Impact Arts is pleased to announce
that Home Lead Tutor Graeme Douglas has been shortlisted for a Craft Skills
Award! Graeme is one of five individuals shortlisted in the category ‘Engaging
New and Diverse Audiences in Craft Skills’. Overall twenty entries have been
shortlisted for the Craft Skills Awards 2013, to be presented at a ceremony on
2 May hosted by Kirstie Allsopp.

The Home project teaches young
people essential skills such as joint making, lathe work, carpentry, paint
effect work, upholstery, restoration, work with recycled materials, design
process, batch manufacturing, and branding and packaging. Since its inception
in 2009 Home has worked with 369 young people through the Creative Pathways
programme.

Home Tutor Graeme Douglas said:

“I’m delighted that Home has been shortlisted
for the Craft Skills Awards. The programme has changed the lives of many young
people through its unique blend of teaching specialist craft techniques whilst
imparting invaluable employability skills at the same time. Just seeing these
young people flourish with a bit of encouragement is reward in itself, but to have
the work that we are doing recognised by Creative and Cultural Skills is a real
boon!”

Judges and ambassadors including
Sir Christopher Frayling will attend the awards, which have been created to
celebrate the passing on of craft skills.

Catherine Large, Joint CEO of
Creative & Cultural Skills said:

“Our craft skills are simply too
important a resource for the UK economy to lose. Learning these skills opens up
aspirational and satisfying career options and sustains a valuable chunk of our
economy, whilst fuelling our ability to innovate. Fostering their growth has to be a key
priority.”

Acting upon this belief, the Craft
Skills Awards have been created by Creative & Cultural Skills in
partnership with the Crafts Council, the Heritage Crafts Association, the
Prince’s Foundation for Building Community and the Department for Business
Innovation and Skills.

Entries have been welcomed from
companies and institutions, teachers, tutors, workshop leaders, masters or
individuals. Categories include “Encouraging Craft Skills in the Workplace”,
“Encouraging Craft Skills in an Educational Setting”, and “Engaging New and
Diverse Audiences in Craft Skills”.

The judges for the 2013 Awards
are: Lida Cardozo Kindersley (letter carver and crafts apprenticeship training
mentor), Daniel Charny (Director, From
Now On), Hank Dittmar (The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community), Lady
Frances Sorrell (Sorrell Foundation and Jerwood Prize Judge), Peter Ting
(Crafts Council Trustee and Ceramicist), Monica Gross-Hodge (Art Workers Guild)
and Robin Wood (Heritage Crafts Association).

Graeme is looking forward to
attending the glittering awards ceremony in London on the 2^nd of May.