MILITARY AFFILIATES

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

Students on Designer Bookbinders' Transferring Design course (funded by The Clothworkers' Company) in bookbinding box making at Central Saint Martins. Images courtesy of Kate Holland.

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

transfer and in order to encourage new talent to consider entering the craft. The scheme was adversely affected by the pandemic, with much training in educational settings moving online. However, courses went ahead as planned at West Dean last October and at Central St Martins this March (having been postponed); Tom McEwan delivered bespoke oneto-one training for a Transferring Design student in December.

In silversmithing, we provided funding of £6,000 towards Rod Kelly’s South House Silver Workshop Trust graduate silversmith scholarship programme, which commenced in early 2021. Jessica Jue and Ellys May Woods were the successful applicants, spending two months’ each in Rod Kelly's workshop in Shetland and with Brett Payne in Sheffield, providing invaluable one-to-one tuition from makers with a total of 80 years’ working experience between them. Four additional one-month scholarships were also offered, in recognition of the importance of the scheme in passing on skills and nurturing talent.

Ellys wrote: 'It has been such an amazing experience working in Sheffield with Brett. I feel I have filled gaps in my silversmithing knowledge and gained so many valuable new skills – from hot forging to raising. Without the South House Trust Scholarship, I would not have had the opportunity to be taught one-to-one like this in such a great environment. I can’t thank Rod, Brett and the support of the Trust enough for this experience!'

We also continue to make an annual grant to Bishopsland Educational Trust; our funding enables students to purchase raw materials and essential tools. Bishopsland is a unique one-year residential workshop for emerging silversmiths and jewellers, providing masterclasses in craft techniques coupled with essential training in marketing and business skills. Prominent alumni include Rod Kelly, Jane Short, Theresa Nguyen, Angela Cork and Miriam Hanid, all of whom feature in our growing plate collection. In 2021, the 'gang' (as they are fondly referred to) used our bursaries to buy materials to make tools including tongs, scorers and gravers; purchased precious metals and gems for exhibition pieces and acquired materials for masterclasses – including copper sheets for chasing and repoussé work.

Having had to cancel our usual public events, we were delighted to host Bishopsland at Clothworkers’ Hall in November. This one-day event comprised VIP tours of the plate vault for guests; an evening lecture delivered by Kirstin Kennedy, Curator of Metalwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum; and an exhibition that generated significant sales for Bishopsland, with nine of the current cohort selling pieces and three commissioned for future work.

One of the students commented:

'As well as the chasing class, my favourite moment at Bishopsland was the exhibition at Clothworkers' Hall in London: This was my first major exhibition, and the experience of meeting fellow makers and selling my work was absolutely incredible'.

Such was its success, a repeat event has been scheduled for Monday, 21 November 2022 – save the date!

“I feel I have filled gaps in my silversmithing knowledge and gained so many valuable new skills – from hot forging to raising. Without the South House Silver Workshop Trust Scholarship, I would not have had the opportunity to be taught one-to-one like this in such a great environment. I can’t thank Rod, Brett and the support of the Trust enough for this experience!”

Ellys May Woods, South House Silver Workshop Trust scholarship recipient

Ellys May Woods practicing her chasing skills in copper (left) and with a nearly finished vase (right).

SUPPORT FOR OUR MILITARY AFFILIATES

We are proud to support affiliations with HMS Dauntless, the Scots Guards, No. 47 Squadron RAF and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps) – also known as the ‘FANY’. Our financial support primarily assists with a range of welfare activities for the service men and women, and their families, as well as grants for special projects.

The HMS Dauntless (and her crew) were inactive whilst the ship was under repair, and there were no visits or opportunities to meet the crew in 2021. However, we we did make contact with the Weapon Engineer Officer, who helped plan a visit to the ship for 2022.

Meanwhile, we awarded £24,000 to the Scots Guards Soldiers and Family Welfare Programme. The Battalion relocated from Aldershot to Catterick, which took considerable time and effort - although a few members of the battalion did have a chance to sneak away for a day to challenge our Clothworkers Golf team to a match! Captain Ross McCrindle, the Unit Welfare Officer updated us on the impact of our funding throughout the year. Soldiers and their families enjoyed a family 'Welcome to Catterick' event to help them adjust to the move. The Battalion was able to trial (successfully) a welfare event for single soldiers, giving them a space to socialise outside of duties. Soldiers and their spouses enjoyed a Bingo Night, accommodating the schedules of families who cannot normally attend daytime activities, and weekly coffee mornings for spouses were reinstated as regular clinics. The Clothworkers' grant also funded direct interventions to provide support to individuals experiencing hardship; in one case

this resulted in a life-saving mental health care plan.

We also contributed £24,000 to No. 47 Squadron RAF, as our annual welfare grant, which helped the Squadron resume family welfare activities after the pandemic, and offer some much-needed recovery and relaxtion after its participation in the evacuation of Afghanistan. A friendly cricket match, with Clothworkers joining in, took place in August (see the image below, on the left), and a family day was held in September. Our Clothworkers' shooting team met the Squadron for the annual competition at Bisley and succeeded in winning the cup (Owen Turgoose presented it to the Master at a dinner this past spring, pictured in the middle). We were honoured to host the Squadron at the Hall in the autumn for the inaugural Community Awards (First Warden Alex Nelson can be seen presenting the awards below, on the right).

The FANY’s year has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they have been part of a nationwide response team, helping our communities through the pandemic. In 2019, The Company committed to supporting the salary costs of the Operations Officer for a further three years, which provides essential coordination for the volunteer group as they respond to ongoing and new crises in London and across the country. FANY were recognised for their ongoing work with the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in June 2021 and formally received Privileged Status of the City of London (which had been bestowed in 2020, but the ceremony had been delayed due to Covid restrictions).