small grants

This Golden Anniversary year marks the launch of our new Small Grants programme.

 

Background information

Historically, The Lace Guild has managed several small sums of money given by or in memory of lacemakers and dedicated to very specific grants and bursaries. For many years, these have attracted little interest, and the remaining bursary amounts are mostly very small, having not kept pace with rising costs.

 

In 2025, The Board of Trustees agreed that for the Golden Anniversary year, the remaining funds should be rolled together to create a new ‘Small Grants’ fund to improve the support we offer to members. Perhaps you’d like to support other lacemakers?  Do you need help with your personal lacemaking journey? Want to discover untold stories or new techniques through research into the craft? What do you need to keep our endangered craft alive? The wishes of all the previous donors will be honoured in the awarding of grants.

 

How to Apply

Members should apply to the Board of Trustees for a small grant to support and grow the craft in the UK, either to enhance and extend their own lacemaking skills or to support others in doing so. Some examples of the areas we may support include (but are not limited to):

• Tutors travel grants

• Members Tuition and Assessment grants

• Young Lacemakers grant (must be 18-25 years of age)

• New Lace Group grant (to support the creation of a new lacemaking group / support group)

• Open Award for projects (for example match/leverage funding for a project that will benefit the future of lacemaking of all categories).

 

You may apply for a grant for all or part of the cost of your project or training course, but you will need to let us know if our grant is to help with match-funding a larger project. For larger applications, Trustees may not be able to offer you the full value of the grant you request.

 

We particularly welcome applications from members with a disability where the award of a Lace Guild small grant will make a significant difference to their participation and enjoyment of the craft. It will help with our decision making if you mention this on your application.

 

Please complete the application form on the website (below). Details of where to return your application can be found on the form.

 

You can apply at any time of year, but please note that applications will only be considered 4 times per year at the following month’s Trustees’ meeting. Application deadlines are as follows:

31 January

31 April

30 June

30 September

Applicants will be contacted by the end of the following month with the Board’s decision and information on how to claim your grant, if your application has been successful.

 

It is a condition of receiving a grant that within 6 weeks of completion of the training or your project, you provide a short article or report and photographs for possible publication on The Lace Guild website, Lace Guild social media, or in Lace magazine. Your grant will be paid in advance, but we reserve the right to retain up to 20% of the grant value until we receive your report.

 

Additional information

Please understand that at present our funds are very limited. We would typically expect requests to be in the region of £100 to £250. 

Each application will be considered on its own merit and awarded at the discretion of the Trustees. We won’t be able to provide feedback, but if your application is not successful, you shouldn’t be discouraged from applying again – it’s often the case that requests can exceed the funds we have available. Please note that at present, grants can only be awarded to members resident in the UK.

 

We are setting up a new ‘Donors and Supporters’ board at the Hollies– which you’ll also be able to see on the website. We will recognise the lacemakers who made the original bursaries possible by adding their names to the board. We’ll be using it to acknowledge all our supporters, donors, sponsors and funders in future.