Make Craft Count

The Crafts Council is running an initiative to urge people to sign up and show their support for contemporary craft.

The government’s statistics indicate that '17% of the population took part in a craft activity in 2008/09'. The idea is to show what this looks like in 'real support' so that everyone can see that craft is highly valued. Therefore, they're asking craft supporters to sign up to their website and leave a comment on why craft is important to them. In the next few months they will post the names of all signatories to demonstrate the great support for craft across the UK.

To sign up go to www.craftscouncil.org.uk/craftmatters

Some more interesting stats from the Crafts Council website:

'There are 35,000 contemporary craft makers in the UK, producing a combined turnover of £1bn each year.¹ As well as producing their own work, these makers contribute to many businesses and industries including film, theatre, dance, fashion and product design.'

'Over 1 million people visited Crafts Council exhibitions, fairs and events in 2008/09.'

Should be interesting to see the results!

¹ Crafts Council 2004 ‘Making it in the 21st Century’; Craft Northern Ireland (2006) ‘A Future in the Making: Socio-economic survey of the craft sector in Northern Ireland’; Scottish Arts Council (2002) ‘Craft Businesses in Scotland: A Study’.