Projects
Rural Crafts Revival - Introduction
What are the 'Rural Crafts Revival' and 'Craft-Ed' projects?
These
two projects make up the extensive rural crafts training programme REAP have been delivering
since 2004. We are encouraging young people to try their hand at and learn more about rural
crafts in response to very real concerns about the ever-increasing decline in numbers of skilled
rural craft workers, whose work is responsible for the look and maintenance of our landscape
and rural environment.
"The 'Rural Crafts Revival' project, was a way of encouraging young people to try out
career opportunities in various rural crafts and if more enter the sector, it would in turn,
enable them to both earn and learn a living in this upland area, and also contribute to preventing
rural depopulation. Secondly, an increase in the number of trained crafts people would contribute
to the visual environment and maintenance and upkeep of its heritage, with walls being repaired
and hedges laid for example, benefiting local people, future generations and visitors alike".
Elspeth Walker, partner in 'The Dove Valley Centre', Sheen.
So what does it involve?
The
'Rural Crafts Revival' project offers young people between the ages of 13 and 19 years of age,
from across North Staffordshire, Derbyshire and the rural fringes of Cheshire and Sheffield,
the completely FREE opportunity to try their hand at the range of rural crafts on offer: Dry
Stone Walling, Metalworking, Woodland Management and Hedgelaying; inclusive of all transport
provision! It also provides participants with tailored information on any or all aspects of
rural crafts. All training is led by instructors and artists nationally recognised within their
fields.
Each five-day course consists of four days training specific to the rural craft being studied
and the fifth day is termed as the 'complimentary day'. To ensure all participants gain as
broad a perspective as possible on the potential career pathways available to them, they are
taken out to various artists, businesses and organisations during the day, to demonstrate firsthand
what they are.
All courses have one of these highly diverse and creative 'road-trip' styled days and serve to provide participants with an exciting, informal but highly valuable and informative day in which to conclude their time on the project. Also within these days, the groups receive advice surgeries on issues relative to working as self-employed practitioners (essential for their career development) and how to work towards running their own successful businesses. They also receive their own information portfolio, along with their own photographic documentation of their course, again all of which is free.
'Craft-Ed' is similar to the 'Rural Crafts Revival' project but will directly work with secondary
schools and youth groups across Derbyshire and the surrounding rural areas, providing them
with demonstrations and participatory workshops across a range of rural crafts, enabling the
workshops and demonstrations to inspire and engage more individuals and provide the schools
with much needed careers information currently omitted from most careers guidance, which is
desperately needed given that Derbyshire and Staffordshire owe much of their thanks to rural
crafts for their visual characteristics, industries and heritage.
REAP
decided to relaunch this project in 2007 to provide learning opportunities to young people
in the area who often experience limited creative training opportunities due to rural isolation,
and therefore do not benefit from exposure to career pathways outside of the school environment.
Through providing workshops within schools etc, we not only remove logistical barriers but
also allow them to undertake such activities in a familiar environment.
This project is also free to participants.
