Always on
This project successfully funded on 4th April 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Secure the future of The Crafts Workshop CIC.
Plymouth, United Kingdom
Aim
This Crowdfunder is intended to secure the future of The Crafts Workshop for the next year.
What is The Crafts Workshop?
The Crafts Workshop is a Community Interest Company based in the Devonport area of Plymouth, UK, that offers well-equipped craft facilities for small businesses and craftspeople. Our mission is to help small businesses grow and thrive, combat social isolation and mental health through the art of blacksmithing, preserve traditional craft techniques, and provide a safe, comfortable environment for people to learn and practice their skills.
Our projects
In the past year, we have;
Run Craft Therapy groups through the medium of blacksmithing for veterans with PTSD.
We were able to provide free workshops to the veteran community thanks to funding from the National Lottery. These workshops helped local veterans gain confidence by learning a new skill and forging new friendships in their community. The positive impact of the project included:
- One veteran engaging more with the community and being accepted onto a psychology course, where she hopes to gain skills to support other veterans.
- One veteran being comfortable engaging with our facility and volunteering his time to assist us with future workshops.
- Several participants making new friends in their community, building social skills and gaining confidence to seek further support for their mental health.
- Several veteran and mental health support organisations reaching out to us after hearing the positive impact we have had on the community.
Run Craft Therapy groups for members of the LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent communities.
We have worked with Manifest Arts CIC on funded projects to deliver creative workshops to the LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent communities. Our work on these projects provided the communities with a safe space to engage with others, helping them feel less isolated and build social skills. They gained confidence by learning a new skill in a traditional craft that is not commonly available to the public.
We also exhibited the work of some participants in our first group exhibition at The Talk Shop in May 2025, which helped them feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in the pieces they made.
Provided educational smithing displays during our open days.
We host regular open days where we invite the general public to visit our facility and see the work that we do. All of our open days include blacksmithing demonstrations that take part throughout the day. Our facilitators talk to the public about the craft, and the displays provide an exciting experience for people of all ages.
Taught the art of blacksmithing to the general public and wider communities, preserving the heritage of a traditional craft.
We deliver weekly workshops to the general public at an affordable price. These workshops give the public access to a traditional craft, with many of our students building their own businesses in the craft. These workshops contribute to forging a new generation of metalsmiths, preserving the heritage of a traditional craft.
Helped small businesses get started up and thrive.
Our facility currently has five in-house residents who are building their businesses in their craft. We also offer an associate membership that allows members to rent our facilities at an affordable cost, and participate in valuable opportunities, including displaying work at exhibitions and selling through craft markets.
What are we fundraising for?
With the money from this Crowdfunder, we intend to secure the future of our premises so that we can continue to offer a safe environment to teach and run future Craft Therapy groups for vulnerable members of our society and continue preserving traditional crafts in our modern age.
We are currently working on several funding applications, which, if successful, will allow us to continue building on our activity programme and support several community groups in Plymouth. Current funding applications include:
The Covenant Trust, Hidden Voices programme, which will provide support for neurodivergent armed forces veterans in Plymouth. We will be providing craft therapy groups, including beginner blacksmithing courses and open workshops for returning participants. This application has been submitted, and we should find out if it has been successful in March 2026.
National Lottery, Awards For All, for which we are creating a new programme of activity designed to support the LGBTQIA+ community. This programme will provide craft therapy workshops to the community and offer them an inclusive, safe space. This application is currently being written, and we are aiming to submit it by April 2026.
Plymouth Octopus Project, POP Collectives programme, which will support individuals who are female identifying, offering them workshops in what has traditionally been a male-dominated craft (blacksmithing). There will also be opportunities for lesbians to contribute to archiving lesbian history and culture for The Box through this project. This is currently entering the final stages of the funding application process, and we should find out if the project was successful at the end of February 2026.
So why are we crowdfunding?
Our funding applications take time to plan and write, and are not guaranteed to be successful.
One hundred percent of our core team at The Crafts Workshop are either disabled or neurodivergent (or both), and therefore, it is incredibly important that we are able to offer flexibility regarding work patterns and ensure the environment is as stress-free as possible.
Whilst we are working on building and developing these projects, our current income relies solely on rentals from our in-house members, associate membership subscriptions and people hiring our facilities, which is causing significant financial pressure on the company.
Achieving our Crowdfunder goal will pay for 2.5 months of rent. With the addition of our regular income, this will secure the company’s core expenses for 5-6 months and relieve substantial financial pressure. This will allow our core team to focus their time and energy on building and developing our community projects through seeking potential collaborators and writing funding bids without feeling pressured by short time restraints.
Budget.
Our target budget is: £6035
This will support the following costs:
- Rental payments, 2.5 months: £5000
- Contingency to cover delivery of rewards, 15% of total: £883
- Crowdfunder payment processing fees, 2.4% plus 20p per transaction - rounded to 2.5% of total: £145
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made