Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust - QEST

05/01/2026

📣 Join the QEST Team! There’s not long left to apply! 📣

We’re looking for an Education and Partnerships Manager and Office Admin Assistant. Head to the QEST website to find out more about each role and apply.

— Education and Partnerships Manager Deadline: 7 January 2026 https://www.qest.org.uk/join-the-qest-team-education-and-partnerships-manager/

— Office Admin Assistant Deadline: 14 January 2026 https://www.qest.org.uk/join-the-qest-team-office-admin-assistant/

📸 Manasi Depala by Julian Calder

15/12/2025

🎉 18 Makers Receive QEST Grants 🎉

We are proud to fund 18 craftspeople this autumn, with recipients spanning 3 Apprentices, 7 Emerging Makers, and 8 Scholars across textiles, ceramics, woodwork, paper artistry, horology, and more. Together with our Spring cohort, this brings QEST’s total support in our 35th anniversary year to almost £400,000 across 40 individual grants, helping to develop skills, strengthen individual practices, and nurture the next generation of UK craft and conservation talent.

Thank you to our donors, to everyone who applied and to our dedicated skills assessors who provide their valuable time and expertise throughout the process.

👉 Head to the QEST website to read about each maker: https://www.qest.org.uk/welcoming-new-qest-alumni-18-makers-receive-qest-grants/
Applications are open twice a year with the Spring 2026 grant round running 14 January — 18 February.
📷 The Autumn 2025 Cohort

11/12/2025

📣 Join the QEST Team! Office Admin Assistant 📣

We’re looking for an enthusiastic, organised, detail-oriented and quick-learning individual to join us as we continue to support talented and aspiring makers through our grants, and inspire the next generation of professional makers through our programmes.

This crucial role ensures the smooth-running of the office, maintains a professional environment, provides essential support and helps the whole team to stay productive. This would be a great opportunity for someone who has a head for data and administration, embraces responsibility, and is excited to gain exposure to a range of roles in a close-knit organisation.

Applications will close on 14 January 2026.
This position is for four days per week.
👉 Head to our website to read more and apply. https://www.qest.org.uk/join-the-qest-team-office-admin-assistant/
📸 QEST Howdens Apprentice Esme Ripley by Julian Calder for ‘Skilled Hands’

08/12/2025

📣 We are an Education and Partnerships Manager 📣

Over the last three years, QEST has developed an exciting range of partnership programmes focused on creating equitable pathways into craft careers. This partnership work is supported by our Youth Board and EDI Champions who act as critical friends and change makers, helping us to deliver impactful projects like our Craft Your Future webpage for 16–25-year-olds.

The Education and Partnerships Manager will have responsibility for maintaining the partnership programmes and ensuring they deliver impact in key areas. They will have the opportunity to influence the development of the programmes; as well as establish new initiatives to expand our existing relationships and national presence, increasing the diversity of QEST’s networks and widening engagement with young people and those from under-represented communities.

Applications will close on 7 January 2026.
This position is for four days per week.
👉 Head to our website to read more and apply.
https://www.qest.org.uk/join-the-qest-team-education-and-partnerships-manager/

25/11/2025

🎉 A Celebration of Craft & 35 Years of QEST with Johnnie Walker 🎉

We had a brilliant time welcoming QEST Alumni and friends to The Johnnie Walker Experience for a celebration of craft in Edinburgh. 140 guests joined us for speeches from Jeremy Lindley of Diageo, QEST Chair Lisa Montague and keynote Hugo Macdonald, reflecting on QEST’s impact and the importance of continued investment in craft skills for the future.

Guests also explored a curated showcase featuring the work of 26 QEST Alumni from across Scotland and QEST Johnnie Walker Scholars, with live demonstrations from Beatrice Searle, Andrea Chappell, Isaac Uden and Paul Kircos of Hamilton & Inches, who also presented their Limited Edition Jewellery Collection in aid of QEST.

We also hosted ‘Craft Your Future: Where Next?’, a panel chaired by QEST Trustee and QEST Johnnie Walker Scholar Frances Priest, with Scholars Scott Smith, Gillian Stewart and Emma Wilkinson sharing insights on building a craft career.

We are so grateful to everyone who joined us, to the talented Alumni who showcased, and to Johnnie Walker for their generous support.

Read more here: https://www.qest.org.uk/a-celebration-of-craft-35-years-of-qest-with-johnnie-walker-12-november-2025/

17/11/2025

📢 Applications have opened today for the Homo Faber Fellowship, an annual eight-month sponsored craft training programme designed for duos of established artisans and craft graduates.

Participants will develop business and marketing knowledge, as well as design and hands-on practical skills through transmission from one generation to the next. This edition runs from September 2026 to April 2027 and includes a masterclass in Venice, followed by a six-month placement culminating in a showcase of co-created work.

Interested in applying? The Homo Faber NextGen Team are hosting two introductory webinars on Wednesday 26 November at 9-10am and 2-3pm.

🗓️ Applications are open until Sun 1 Feb 2026.
➡ https://www.qest.org.uk/applications-open-for-the-homo-faber-fellowship-26-27/
📸 25-26 Fellowship: © Kim Jordan Artisan and Sandra Pinto Fellow

The Fellowship is presented by Homo Faber in partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre and local members of the Michelangelo Foundation’s international network. We are proud to be the Homo Faber Fellowship UK partner.

Applications have opened today for the Homo Faber Fellowship, an annual eight-month sponsored craft training programme designed for duos of established

07/11/2025

🌟 LAST DAYS TO BID! QEST’s 35th Anniversary Auction closes on Sunday 9 November 🌟
We invited Kerryn Harper-Cuss, an editor, journalist and QEST Ambassador to select her favourite pieces in the QEST Auction.

“These are four pieces I would aspire to own - or experience - for myself. I am most particularly drawn to craft forms that gently entice sensory engagement and honour connection with nature” Kerryn shares. “The first two speak to me of a sensitive and transcendental rapport with – and response to – the natural world. The second two reflect a thoughtful honouring of materiality and heritage: in Charlie Calder-Potts case - also to culture and location, and in Isabelle Davies’s case - an eye-catching ode to an historical and chemical understanding of light, glass and pigment.”

— ‘Flow: Straw’ framed embroidery artwork by Hanny Newton
— Basketry workshop for two with Fiona Arnold
— ‘Where the Clouds Rest and the River Runs Clear’ mixed media artwork by Charlie Calder-Potts
— ‘Angel and Christ Child’ stained-glass hanging panel by Isabelle Davies

Kerryn is also co-author, alongside interior designer Diana Blanchard of a new publication Sanctuary by Design, offering a fresh and holistic perspective on the physiological and psychological value of considered home design.
➡ BID at https://uk.givergy.com/QEST35/?controller=home
➡ Auction Closes 5pm Sun 9 Nov.

06/11/2025

🌟 Building a Diverse Pipeline of Exceptional Craft Talent
Through our Partnership Programmes, we’re building a more inclusive and sustainable craft sector by investing in pathways and essential support for careers in craft and conservation. At the heart of this work is our commitment to reducing barriers to craft careers and empowering individuals and communities to lead creative, fulfilling lives.

— Craft&Making Clubs in partnership with the National Saturday Club. 13–16-year-olds explore and experience a wide variety of crafts at their local university, college or cultural institution.
— Making the Future (part of the Inspiring the Future programme) in partnership with Education and Employers. Between 2024-25, 13,000 school children learnt about craft and conservation careers from volunteers online and in the classroom.
— Know-How Craft Studio in partnership with Intoart. This programme addresses under-representation of learning disabled and autistic people in craft by expanding opportunities to work alongside specialist craftspeople and through an annual commission. In 2024, over 1,000 hours of craft activities were delivered.

Thank you to Howdens for generously supporting the Craft&Making Clubs and thank you to The Royal Warrant Holders Association, DBR Limited, Soane Britain and The Mercers' Company for supporting Making the Future.

🌟 Support the future of the craft sector and donate £35 for QEST’s 35th Anniversary. https://uk.givergy.com/QEST35/?controller=pledges&action=campaignPledge
🎓 Interested in a craft career? Explore Craft Your Future, an online resource hub launched in 2025 to support aspiring and early career makers, craftspeople and conservators. https://www.qest.org.uk/craftyourfuture/
📷 Courtesy of NSC, Intoart and Education and Employers

05/11/2025

We’re delighted to announce that the QEST Sanderson Rising Star Craft Award will return in 2026, celebrating the importance of sustainability and innovation in craft.

We caught up with the winner of the inaugural prize, embroiderer and QEST Broderers’ Company Scholar Hanny Newton Embroidery to see how her year has been since winning. Hanny, a pioneer in the use of straw as a natural and sustainable alternative to gold thread, received £25,000 to support the development of her practice.

“Winning the QEST Sanderson Rising Star Craft Award a year ago marked a pivotal moment in my career,” says Hanny. “It has brought greater recognition of my work and opened doors to exciting international opportunities and collaborations. Allowing me to show my craft practice to a wider audience has, in turn, helped to raise awareness of the potential of straw as a material. It has also been a huge boost to my confidence, inspiring me to keep dreaming big and surpass my own expectations for what I can achieve within my practice.”

The award is a collaboration between QEST and Sanderson, supporting emerging talent who are making positive contributions to their craft, the wider craft sector and their community. Applications will open in spring 2026, with the winner announced in the autumn.

Hanny’s work is available via the QEST Anniversary Auction — bid online until 9 Nov.
🌟 Investing in the Future of Craft | Donate £35 🌟 QEST is a charity that transforms the careers of talented and aspiring makers by funding their training and education, creating pathways to excellence and strengthening the future of the UK’s craft sector.
➡ https://uk.givergy.com/QEST35/?controller=home
Sanderson Fabrics and Wallpapers
📷 1 Society of Antiquaries of London conference | 2 Hanny receiving the award | 3 & 6 Haddon Hall x QEST, Showcase 2 exhibition | 4 Sowing long straw with local Shropshire organic farmers © Molly Brown and Olly Kinnersley | 5 Exploring straw techniques

04/11/2025

✨ — Sam Park — Eddy Bennett — Zoë Wilson — Kayo Saito ✨

Today we’re celebrating four talented makers that are part of QEST’s 900-strong Alumni. Each has received a grant from QEST for training to help them advance their practice.

— Sam received funding in 2022 to support her apprenticeship at the Paper Foundation in Cumbria. She developed the practical skills, theoretical understanding, and historical knowledge in the craft of European papermaking and continues working with the Paper Foundation.
— Eddy is a 2023 QEST D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Scholar and reverse glass sign maker based in West Sussex. Eddy trained with as part of his QEST Scholarship learning the endangered craft of ‘brilliant cutting’ and ‘silvering’ (pouring mirrors).
— Zoë is a stone carver, Scholar Ambassador and QEST Arts Society Scholar. In 2014, QEST supported her studies in Historic Stone Carving at City & Guilds of London Art School.
— Kayo creates precious sculptural jewellery and in 2016 received a Scholarship to train with QEST Scholar Charlotte De Syllas and Hawsker Lapidary Work. Last year Kayo won the QEST Award for Excellence, honouring her outstanding contribution to her craft.

🌟 Celebrating 35 Years of Investing in the Future of Craft | Donate £35 | Bid Online Until 9 Nov | Discover Makers 🌟 QEST grants support makers and conservators at various career stages, helping to sustain vital skills in both traditional and contemporary crafts and to strengthen the pipeline of talented craft professionals in the UK.
➡ https://www.qest.org.uk/35years/
📷 Sam Park, Taylor Hall O'Brien Cabana Magazine and Danny Chan | Zoë Wilson, Montgomery Photography