Apply for QEST and Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award 2025

Applications for the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) and Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award are now open. This award, now in its third year, recognises craftspeople across the UK who have taken significant steps to reduce their environmental impact and improve the sustainability of their craft practices.

Glass artists have been successful recipients of the award in previous years. In 2023 Lulu Harrison, a QEST Johnnie Walker Scholar, was recognised for incorporating waste from local fishing industries into her glass pieces. Then well-known contemporary glassblower Allister Malcolm, whose studio is based at Stourbridge Glass Museum, won the award in 2024.

The Sustainability Award celebrates makers who have made measurable changes to their materials, processes, or introduced innovative approaches to reduce their environmental footprint within the past 12 months. Craftspeople working with traditional skills or materials, who have embraced sustainability and contributed to the long-term viability of their businesses, are encouraged to apply.

Through the partnership with Heritage Crafts, the award aims to showcase excellence in sustainable craft and promote innovative practices that ensure the UK’s rich craft sector continues to thrive for future generations.

There are two award categories in 2025, each designed to highlight different approaches to sustainability in craft:

Innovative Approaches to Environmental Sustainability

This category is for those who have demonstrated a unique and innovative approach to environmental sustainability. The recipient will have pioneered a ground-breaking solution, technique or process that challenges conventional wisdom and inspires others in the craft sector to explore new methods of working sustainably.

Incremental Changes to Environmental Sustainability

This category recognises craftspeople who have made incremental, yet substantial, improvements to the environmental impact of their business. By implementing practical initiatives to reduce waste, conserve resources and mitigate environmental harm over time, the recipient will have shown a steadfast commitment to making their practice more sustainable.

You can apply yourself or nominate another craftsperson or micro-business for the QEST and Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award. Each winner will receive a £1,000 prize and an invitation to attend a prestigious awards ceremony hosted by Heritage Crafts in November 2025.

Applications are open until 1 July 2025.

Find out more and apply or nominate via this link on the Heritage Crafts website.

Masterclass: Advancing sustainability in your craft practice with QEST and Heritage Crafts

On 8 April 2025, from 12pm–1pm, QEST is hosting a free Zoom masterclass online to explore how you can practically enhance sustainability in your craft practice.

Hosted by QEST and Heritage Crafts, guest speakers will be the two winners of the 2024 QEST and Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award – Allister Malcolm and jeweller and metalworker Rachael Colley. Allister and Rachael will explore the ways they’ve reduced the environmental impact of their craft practice, how they’ve measured their success and how you can communicate your sustainability story effectively.

Register for the masterclass here.

Image: Sustainably made glass pieces created by 2023 winner Lulu Harrison.