The Clothworkers' Company Annual Review 2024 by The Clothworkers' Company

THE CLOTHWORKERS’ COMPANY

MASTER

Mr Denis Clough

WARDENS

The Hon Mary Ann Slim

Mrs Susanna O'Leary

Dr Lucy Rawson

Mr Deepak Nambisan

COURT OF ASSISTANTS

Mr John Coombe-Tennant

Mrs Joanna Dodd

Miss Katharine Hirst

Mr David Hutchins

Mr Tom Ingham Clark

Mr Dan Jago

Mr Peter Jonas

Mr James Langley

Mr Ian Maclean

Col Alastair Mathewson OBE

Mr Alexander Nelson

Sir Jonathan Portal Bt

Mr Philip Portal

Mr Hugo Robinson

Dr Cordelia Rogerson

Mr Andrew Strang

Mr Hanif Virji

Mr John Wake

Mr Andrew Wates

Mr Robert West

Mr Timothy West

Mr Andrew Yonge

HONORARY ASSISTANT

Mr Andrew Blessley

The Clothworkers’ Company

First Floor, 16 Eastcheap London EC3M 1BD

+44 (0)20 7623 7041

Enquiries@Clothworkers.co.uk

CLERK TO THE COMPANY

Jocelyn Stuart-Grumbar

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT AND COMPANY GRANTS OFFICER

Emma Temple

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, PROPERTY AND INVESTMENTS

Hamesh Patel

FINANCE MANAGER

Michelle Jex-Brown

FOUNDATION DIRECTOR

Jenny North

HEAD OF COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

Jessica Collins HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT Renée LaDue

INTRODUCTION

MISSION, VISION & VALUES

The Clothworkers’ Company is a 500-year-old philanthropic membership organisation with roots in the textile trade. Established by Royal Charter in 1528 through the merger of The Fullers’ and Shearmen’s Companies, we were founded to promote the craft of clothworking in the City of London. We supervised the training of apprentices and protected standards of workmanship.

IMPACT REPORT

IMAGE CREDITS

Cover and Inside Cover: Photos from the Dovecot Studios (Edinburgh) exhibition

Chris Ofili: The Caged Bird's Song (2024), where our tapestry was displayed.

Today, our MISSION is to inspire and empower individuals and communities through action, partnership and financial support. We are particularly focused on UK textiles, charity governance, and philanthropy. Our VISION is to build on our history and legacy of fellowship and generosity, whilst becoming increasingly responsive, adaptive to change, outward looking and ambitious. We want our members to be proud of being a part of our livery company, and to understand their responsibility in encouraging and nurturing the next generation of Clothworkers, inspiring one another to deliver our best. This vision is founded on our VALUES, and our aspiration to be progressive, collaborative and sustainable in all that we do, internally and externally.

The Clothworkers’ charitable giving is principally channelled through our grantmaking charity, The Clothworkers’ Foundation, established in 1977 with a significant endowment from The Company. Additionally, The Company makes an annual donation to The Foundation. In 2024, The Foundation awarded grants totalling £10.78 million to organisations supporting people and communities facing disadvantage and marginalisation. In total, The Company donated £2.57 million to The Clothworkers' Foundation in 2024.

Additionally, The Clothworkers' Company directly awards grants in support of textiles and trusteeship across the UK, a selection of military affiliates, and other charitable or community causes. This publication covers our key areas of grantmaking – which amounted to more than £1.95 million (more than £4.5 million including the donation to The Foundation) in 2024. Our Annual Review aims to illustrate what we have done to fulfil our mission, improve impact across our grantmaking activities, and uphold our values.

An annual financial summary is published in the Members' Supplement for Clothworkers.

50 FENCHURCH STREET

The development of the site at 50 Fenchurch, including the next Clothworkers' Hall, made good progress in 2024 and continues to do so. All work relating to archaeology has been completed, involving the removal of some Roman finds and remains from the graveyard. The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) team has left the site, allowing Keltbray to excavate the basement box. They are progressing well and anticipate 'bottoming out' in late August 2025. At this point the site will be handed over to Multiplex, which has been appointed as the

lead contractor, and they will start the process of constructing the shell of the office tower and the new Clothworkers’ Hall.

There are some unique elements of engineering involved, particularly around the Grade I listed Tower of All Hallows Staining. It is currently supported by stilts to allow excavations around and below it.

A temporary road has now been dug out underneath the church tower to allow vehicular access for removing debris.

The Company has been formally

advised of a six-month delay to the handover of the new hall shell, due to the work required in relation to the archaeology. This was always an unknown, and the notification of the delay did not come as a surprise. As a result, we anticipate that we will be able to open the new – decorated and fitted-out –hall sometime in 2029.

When complete, the depth of the site will extend 13 metres (43 feet), or four storeys. The commercial tower will be 36 storeys tall and provide c. 60,400 square metres (650,000 square feet) of space. The new hall will be accessed through a double height entrance and be set out over three subterranean floors. Above ground will be two floors serving as offices for The Company and Foundation Staff, as well as a residential floor consisting of a Master’s Flat and flexible Staff accommodation.

The Company is well advised by our professional team, led by Workman LLP (as the Project Managers) and Capital Real Estate Partners (our long-standing property advisers). There is a good ongoing relationship with our tenant, AXA IM Alts, and their development manager, YardNine.

This page: 50 Fenchurch Street from above, progressing towards 'bottoming out' (expected in August 2025).

Facing page: Tower of All Hallows Staining with scaffolding and stilts (to allow for vehicle access).

HALL INTERIOR DESIGN

The design of the fit out of the new hall is currently at RIBA Stage 4. This is the technical design part of the process, where architectural and engineering designs are finalised before the fit out of the building begins. The professional team are working with the Hall Working Group, which consists of Members of the Court, Livery and Freedom. This involves a significant amount of ongoing work, including regular meetings and workshops. AXA will construct the hall as a shell, and The Company will then be responsible for the fit-out from the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) through to the interior design. Our appointed interior designer, Hannah Carter Owers, and her team are developing this element with detailed reference to our heritage and the missions of both The Company and Foundation. We are also looking at reusing and repurposing items from the previous Clothworkers' Hall as part of the design. At the Annual Meeting in June 2025, Members saw a virtual flythrough of the work-in-progress designs. We hope to share an updated version in the Members' Area soon.

Use the QR code to watch a video from YardNine of what's happening on site.

Academic Research and Innovation

University of Leeds, LITAC (£8.9m committed for 2021-31) ...............................................................................

UKFT, University of Leeds (BSc Textile Innovation and Sustainability; £120k for 2024-30) ......................

De Montfort University (scholarships and marketing; £100k committed for 2024-26) .................................

UAL, Central Saint Martins (MA, Material Futures; £30k committed for 2024-26) ......................................

Loughborough University (Diverse Voices in Textiles) ...............................................................................................

Technical Education, Vocational Support & Craft

Textile Centre of Excellence, Sustainability Champions' Network .....................................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence (developing online capacity and content) ............................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence, Fashion Academy ...........................................................................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence, Edu4Tex ...........................................................................................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence (Digital Skills Training) ...............................................................................................

The Weavers’ Company, Entry to Work Scheme .........................................................................................................

UKFT (export promotion; £170k for 2023-2025) ........................................................................................................

UKFT (skills support; £250k for 2024-26) ...................................................................................................................

UKFT, Made It 2024 ..............................................................................................................................................................

UKFT, Sustainability Conference 2024 (with the Textiles Livery Group) .........................................................

UKFT, Young Textile Technician Fund ...........................................................................................................................

QEST (scholar, apprentice, and emerging maker awards; £132k committed for 2024-26) .........................

Cockpit Arts, Clothworkers’ Award for Weavers (£66k for 2023-25) ..................................................................

Cockpit Arts (table loom, warping frame and blinds) ..................................................................................................

Dovecot Studios, Weaving Apprenticeship Scheme (£60k for 2023-26) ............................................................

Making It in Textiles (third-year textiles student conference and mill visits) .....................................................

Heritage and Conservation

Textile Conservation Centre (MPhil bursary) ..............................................................................................................

Textile Design

Bradford Textile Society Design Competition ................................................................................................................

New Designers, The Clothworkers’ Company Associate Prize (Printed Textile Design Award) ................ £890,000

Please note that this grants report is intended to illustrate the breadth and diversity of our charitable giving in 2024, particularly within our key areas of interest. It is not a comprehensive list of our grantmaking or charitable giving, which may also include commitments made in previous years or smaller donations to a variety of organisations, and it may not reflect the figures reported in financial documents due to the way commitments and liabilities may be recorded in our accounts. Clothworker Members may see a financial breakdown of The Company’s income and expenditure (including ‘Mission’ costs) in the Members’ Supplement.

Trusteeship

Charity Governance Awards (18 cash prizes) ................................................................................................................

Reach Volunteering ................................................................................................................................................................

New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) (trustee seminars, 2024-25) ..............................................................................

The Young Trustees Movement (unrestricted) ...........................................................................................................

Charity Digital Trust, Charity Digital Code of Practice .............................................................................................

Military Affiliations

Scots Guards, Soldiers and Family Welfare programme ...........................................................................................

FANY (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps), Operations Officer Salary (£90k for 2023-25) ..........................

HMS Dauntless, Community and Wellbeing programme .......................................................................................

Army Cadet Force, 41 Cadet Detachment Dagenham (£10,500 committed for 2024-26) ...............................

Other Charitable Grants

City & Guilds Foundation, Intertrain ...............................................................................................................................

City Harvest, Livery Food Initiative .................................................................................................................................

Designer Bookbinders, Licentiate Pilot Scheme ..........................................................................................................

Camden School for Girls (£60k for 2023-25) ................................................................................................................

St Paul’s Cathedral Trust, Chorister Bursary (£60k for 2024-27) ..........................................................................

Goldsmiths' Craft and Design Council, Competition Prize .....................................................................................

The Creative Dimension Trust (£50k for 2022-24) ....................................................................................................

The Lord Mayor’s Appeal (2024) ......................................................................................................................................

Bishopsland Educational Trust, Bursaries (£24k for 2022-25) .................................................................................

Aldgate School (£22,500 for 2023-2025) ...........................................................................................................................

Spitalfields Crypt Trust, St Thomas' Eve Charity Appeal ............................................................................................

The Children's Magical Taxi Tour .......................................................................................................................................

The Clothworkers’ Foundation

The Company's surplus is donated to The Clothworkers’ Foundation (including match-funding for members’ contributions to our Clothworker Members' Fund) ........................................................................

*This includes an additional donation at the end of the year.

£15,000 £10,000 £10,000 £10,000 £8,000 £7,500 £4,675 £1,500 £2.57m*

TEXTILE GRANTS & CHARITABLE GIVING IN 2024 ≈ £4.5 MILLION

INDUSTRY MISSION

Over the past decade or more, The Company and, formerly, The Foundation have contributed in excess of £20 million towards textiles, including an investment of £8.9 million to co-fund the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC). Aside from our investment into LITAC (committed in 2021), grants for 'Technical Education and Vocational Support' as well as 'Heritage and Conservation' have accounted for the largest share of our distribution of funds.

The Clothworkers' Company is responsible for the direct administration of its contributions and grantmaking towards textiles (ie, the grantmaking of The Clothworkers' Foundation is separate, and directed towards different programme areas). Our expenditure towards textiles is considered The Company's 'Industry Mission'.

Ground-breaking innovation is happening in textiles, and investment in the skills that help bring this innovation to market is required. Our Textiles

Sub-Committee is responsible for developing our grantmaking strategically in order to champion textiles and make meaningful contributions to support the industry.

TEXTILES STRATEGY

The Company aims to:

• prioritise British textiles;

• focus on cloth, rather than costume, and on the manufacture of cloth;

• direct our involvement in textile design towards talented students at higher-rated institutions, with an interest in people who are studying or possess the ability to convert ideas into a product capable of being manufactured, as well as an understanding of textile technologies;

• rigorously explore the prospective usage of equipment that we fund;

• direct our support in heritage towards cataloguing, indexing, storing, conserving, displaying and improving access to important textile collections.

Right: The Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC) launched a new BSc in Textiles Innovation and Sustainability last year. The Textile Livery Group (including The Clothworkers' Company) provided funding for scholarships to help launch the programme successfully with 11 students on the course in the first year.

INDUSTRY MISSION

ACADEMIC RESEARCH & INNOVATION

In 2012, we helped to establish the Clothworkers’ Centre for Textile Materials Innovation for Healthcare (CCTMIH) at the University of Leeds, with a £1.75 million anchor donation. The Centre works to develop enabling technologies based on advances in textile science and engineering. From bioactive wound dressings that are capable of speeding up healing rates in the management of diabetic ulcers, to implantable devices able to promote the regeneration of bone or skin – the application of textiles in healthcare is a rapidly developing field.

Working with nurses, orthopaedic, dental and cardiovascular surgeons to identify unmet needs in current clinical procedures, the CCTMIH team is developing physical prototypes that overcome the performance limitations of existing products.

The Company has been a principal supporter of the Textiles and Colour Science activities at University of Leeds since they were established. In 2021, we made our largest-ever commitment to the university, investing £8.9 million (over 10 years) into the Leeds Institute of Textiles and

First-year students on the LITAC Textile Innovation and Sustainability course visited Abraham Moon & Sons, where they were met by several Leeds alumni who are part of the team – including Martin, who graduated 50 years ago, and Hannah, who graduated three years ago.

Colour (LITAC).

In addition to this capital funding, we have continued to provide bursaries for a number of postgraduate students at Leeds and beyond. In 2022, we committed an additional £292,500 to fund, for three years (through 2025) 14 undergraduate and postgraduate student bursaries (both for achievement and affordability) in the Fashion Design, Sustainable Fashion, and Textile Sustainability and Innovation programmes. In 2024, we committed to another £120,000 to fund bursaries for the BSc Textile

Innovation and Sustainability programme, alongside the Textile Livery Group, through 2030.

The Company continues to support UAL Central Saint Martins MA Material Futures programme with a bursary for the two-year postgraduate course and an award for a final-year project focused on textiles. At the same time, we made new commitments to other institutions – such as £100,000 (over three years) to De Montfort University for bursaries and scholarships.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL SUPPORT & CRAFT

Breakthrough ideas in textiles – and materials more widely – must satisfy the demands of sustainability and, where possible, bring a societal benefit for future generations. For exciting innovation to make the journey from concept to commercial success, it is important to nurture the technical skills that enable apprentices, students and trainees to succeed.

Last year, nearly half (more than 46%) of our funding under Technical Education and Vocational Support was committed to programmes and projects from Textile Centre of Excellence (TCE). The TCE continues to play a crucial role in meeting the industry’s current and future skills needs. Our grant helped TCE invest in new IT systems to support online learning, developing a learning platform and learner management system, and converting existing content into interactive online formats. Software tools like Menti are being used to keep the learning experience engaging, innovative, and educational.

Abraham Moon & Sons also welcomed a cohort or participants from the Textile Centre of Excellence Skills Bootcamp. The mill's team demonstrated their expertise and shared their experience.

INDUSTRY MISSION

A separate grant for digital skills training helped TCE meet rising demand for its programme with additional training dates and refining its focus into two key areas of educational content.

Edu4Tex, the Fashion Academy, and the Sustainability Champions' Network were among the TCE programmes we supported.

More than a quarter (27%) of our funding under this area was committed to initiatives implemented by the UK Fashion and Textiles Association

(UKFT). In 2022, we committed £170,000 (over three years) to enable UKFT to promote British textiles and build its reputation abroad, and approved further commitments in 2024.

UKFT programmes promote opportunities within UK textiles, improve employability, support skills development, and facilitate on-the-job training. For instance, a grant of £25,000 was directed towards the MADE IT programme, which aims to enrich the production and

Above: UKFT Fashion Academy, which was created to support the organisation in delivering high quality training to anyone who is interested in the fashion and textiles supply chain. Right: Chelsea Guthrie is employed by Wilkie, a manufacturer of technical textiles and industrial fabrics, and accessing training via the UKFT Young Textiles Techinican Fund.

sourcing knowledge of textiles graduates and promote the wealth of technical and creative roles available across the supply chain. Working with five universities, the programme delivers a masterclass in Production and Sourcing, which culminated in a competitive final project. The prize for top performers from each participating university was a two-month, paid production internship.

Additionally, the UKFT Young Textile Technician Fund received another grant of £10,000. The fund helps both businesses and their employees (aged 35 or under) access training critical to business operations and career development.

Our partnership with creative incubator Cockpit Arts began in 2011 and continues to thrive. The Company has invested nearly £265,000 to date, including its current three-year commitment of £66,000 towards weaving bursaries. With the addition of Leonie Edmead, Megan Leach and Ruby Smith in 2024, we have now sponsored 41 weavers at Cockpit. We also gave the Deptford studio a small grant last year to purchase a new table loom, warping frame and blinds.

Dovecot Studios , one of the last

remaining tapestry weaving studios in the UK, received its second year of support for apprentice Sophia McCaffrey, who is learning the basics of tapestry weaving. We also topped up our long-standing support for The Weavers' Company Entry to Work Scheme with a grant of £58,800.

Finally, we began a new relationship with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) , by designating £132,000 (over three years) to support awards for QEST scholars, apprentices and emerging makers. The first QEST scholar, Kiltmaker Andrea Chappell, was revealed at the end of the year, with others to be announced in 2025.

HERITAGE & CONSERVATION

The Company has been one of the foremost supporters of textile conservation in the UK for many years. Since the 1980s, we have made capital grants, funded research, and provided bursaries for students at the Centre for Textile Conservation, supporting the Centre to the tune of £1.75 million when it was at the University of Southampton, and now in

INDUSTRY MISSION

Glasgow. The Clothworkers’ Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) was made possible by our £1 million grant, establishing a centre that offered students, designers, and researchers greater access to the museum's collection. In 2024, the Centre moved to the V&A East Storehouse site, in Stratford, and became part of the V&A East Museum cultural campus.

More recently, in 2020, The Company awarded £265,000 to the University of Oxford Textile Study Centre, which will form part of the university's new Collections Teaching and Research Centre (CTRC). Our grant supported two roles over three years during an ambitious £10 million capital project. The state-of-the-art facility will enable two of Oxford's museums – the Ashmolean Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum – to better store, conserve, display and educate around their world-renowned textile collections. The pandemic delayed progress on the CTRC facility (it opened in early 2025).

We continued funding the twoyear MPhil course via the Textile Conservation Foundation (and its centre at University of

Glasgow). We have supported the programme for more than 40 years, and more than 50 students have benefitted from that support. Martha Strachan received the most recent Clothworkers' bursary, while past recipients Jessica Hay and Madeline Hibbins-Cline are in their second year of studies (more information about their work is featured on pages 15-16).

TEXTILE DESIGN

The Clothworkers’ Company continued to support New Designers and the Bradford Textile Society Design Competition

In 2024, New Designers celebrated its 40th anniversary, and Clothworkers Elizabeth Ashdown and Emily May (herself a past New Designers award recipient) served as judges again. They bestowed our Printed Textile Design Associate Prize upon Franki Barber (Leeds College of Art).

The Company has been presenting an award at New Designers since 2009, creating 16 winners of The Clothworkers’ Associate Prize. Research into the roles and employment that past winners are currently undertaking is extremely encouraging – all 16 are still working in creative industries and all but two

are still working directly in textiles.

Elizabeth and Emily also judged the Bradford Textile Society Design Competition and selected the following winners (who received a cash prize and certificate):

• Printed Textile Design for Fashion or Interiors: Dylan Walters (Loughborough University)

• Knitted Fabric for Fashion or Interiors: Helen Kaye (Nottingham Trent University)

• Woven Fabric Design for Fashion or Accessories: Emma Hayward-Higham (De Montfort University)

• Woven Fabric Design for Interior Furnishings or Products: Robin Smith (Heriot-Watt University)

• Fabric Design for Fashion/ Accessories or Interior Products (which shows an innovative combination of textile processes): Emma Hayward-Higham (De Montfort University)

• Material Construction for Fashion/Accessories or Interior Products (produced by non-conventional processes, materials or technologies): Anna WilsonKnight (Manchester Met University).

This page: Work by Emma Hayward-Higham, who won two of our Bradford Textiles Society awards in 2024 by experimenting and innovating passementerie to create fully woven garments. Follow Emma on Instagram @Hayward.Higham.

Caterina Prior working on a 13th-century Lebanese archaeological textile. © Abegg-Foundation, 2021.

SPOTLIGHT: TEXTILE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

The Textile Conservation Foundation (TCF) is a charity that supports textile conservation education and research, primarily through the work of the Kelvin Centre for Conservation and Cultural Heritage. The TCF’s main focus is to raise sufficient funds each year to ensure that students who need financial support are able to take up their places on the twoyear MPhil Textile Conservation programme. Since the move to Glasgow in 2010, the Foundation has raised more than £2.9 million in external funding for the Centre.

2025 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first Textile Conservation programme by Karen Finch in 1975. The Clothworkers’ Company has supported students on the MPhil Textile Conservation course, and its predecessor courses, for more than 45 years. This long-standing commitment has enabled, or is enabling, more than 50 talented young people to train as textile conservators. Only a handful are no longer working directly in the sector, and several have retired.

Caterina Celada Prior, who

“The outcome of our funders’ support, over five decades, is that many hundreds of individuals have been able to pursue careers as textile conservators and curators; the contribution [they] make to heritage across the globe is both inspiring and incalculable.”

Prof Nick Pearce FSA, TCF Chair

Above: First-year Martha Strachin working on the 19thcentury gloves from the Paisley Museum.

graduated from the programme in 2020, is now a Textile Conservator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She wrote: 'I am deeply grateful to the TCF and its funders ... Following my graduation, I completed a oneyear internship at the esteemed Abegg-Stiftung in Switzerland, where I refined my skills in the conservation of historic textiles, focusing particularly on 17thcentury linen damasks, Medieval embroideries, and archaeological Lebanese textiles. This experience provided me with a profound understanding of the rigorous analysis, documentation, and preservation of textiles.'

The students currently benefitting from Clothworkers’ TCF scholarships are Martha Strachan (first year), Jessica Hay and Madeline Hibbins-Cline (both in

their second year).

TCF reports that Martha is extremely diligent with her academic work –always engaged, prepared for class and keen to learn new skills, especially in aspects of the programme in which she had less experience such as conservation science, laboratory and microscope work. She has natural dexterity, achieves a very high quality of finish and has good aesthetic judgement. She also has excellent handling skills and a good understanding of conservation ethics. Her skills are evidenced by the completed conservation of a pair of 19th-century cotton gloves.

Jess has recently worked on a Jacquard woven portrait (c. 1845) depicting Louis Phillippe, King of France, belonging to Paisley Museum. It was particularly damaged from

a previous mounting method and display. Jess created an effective support using dyed semi-transparent fabric that required the use of adhesive rather than stitching.

Madeline enjoys challenges presented by complex practical work, evidenced by her two main projects this year. She worked on a First World War Sweetheart Cushion from Paisley Museum, which was made by a WWI soldier during convalescence. It required careful cleaning of a wide range of materials, such as felted wool, silk fabrics and glass headed pins. She is also undertaking the conservation of a 1920s wedding dress is made of fine silk, pleated trim and beads. The dress belongs to a family member, and it is being donated to a local museum, but has large areas of damage.

Use the QR Code to watch a video on the exciting new progress being made at HMP Highpoint, to create a Centre of Excellence that will support prisoner rehabilitation across the country.

CHARITABLE MISSION

Today, our mission is to empower individuals and communities through action, partnership and financial support. While championing textiles is a core part of that mission, we are also focused on fostering community and making a difference through broader charitable giving.

THE CLOTHWORKERS' FOUNDATION

The Clothworkers’ Foundation is the vehicle for a majority of our philanthropic funding, and serves as the primary vehicle through which we are able to drive positive impact for people and communities across the UK. In 2024, our donations to The Clothworkers' Foundation amounted to approximately £2.57 million, and The Foundation awarded £10.78 million in grants.

The Clothworkers' Company awards grants and make donations to a variety of initiatives beyond The Foundation each year. These include contributions to a number of charitable causes that support our communities in the Square Mile and throughout the UK, donations or investments that protect and promote endangered craft skills, funding for our military affiliates, and other programmes that are aligned with our core values.

Some of our ‘Charitable Mission’

grant recipients are highlighted in the following pages.

CITY & GUILDS FOUNDATION: INTERTRAIN

Reoffending costs approximately £18.1 billion every year in England, and evidence shows that upskilling prisoners to gain sustainable employment upon release, together with stable accommodation and support, is the most effective way to counter reoffending. However, without assistance, only 26.5% of ex-offenders find employment upon release.

To help prisoners reach their potential, City & Guilds Foundation works in prisons to provide everything from quality training and recognition services, to collaborating with employers seeking to access new talent, to funding innovative new technology that helps prisoners secure skills for future employment.

In 2021, The Clothworkers' Company partnered with The Merchant Taylors' Company to fund a City & Guilds' pilot programme to deliver skills training by Intertrain to learners from HMP & YOI Hatfield who were released on temporary license (ROTL). The Clothworkers' Company has continued to sponsor the project, encouraged by Livery

Member and City & Guilds Institute Council Member Geoffrey Gestetner, and committed another £50,000 in 2024.

The organisation has expanded the prisoner education Programme delivered by Intertrain with a second rail track facility inside HMP Highpoint and created a Centre of Excellence. It has continued to prove its impact, with 81% of learners maintaining their employment status. One reason for its success is the close collaboration with employers such as Vital, CRS, Ganymede, Network Rail and more, who provide guaranteed employment opportunities, upon release, to those who complete the programme.

ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL: CHORISTER BURSARY

St Paul’s Cathedral offers talented young people the unprecedented opportunity to become a chorister at the Cathedral School and to train with one of the most prestigious choirs in the world. The Cathedral is committed to ensuring that the incredible opportunity of becoming a chorister is open to young people from a wide variety of backgrounds and not dependent on their family’s ability to be able to afford to pay the fees. However,

CHARITABLE MISSION

it costs more than £30,000 a year to train a chorister. In 2024, The Company continued to provide a bursary of £10,000 (via the St Paul's Cathedral Chorister Trust) to cover the cost of boarding for a young person who would otherwise not be able to access this opportunity. The current bursary holder, Lizzie, was selected from among the school's new girl probationers – a recent change for the 900-year-old organisation.

THE CREATIVE DIMENSION TRUST (TCDT)

We initially supported The Creative Dimension Trust (TCDT) with a grant of £60k (over three years, 2019-21), and committed another £50k to support its work from 2022 to 2024. TCDT will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2025, and we have committed to another three years of funding (2025-27) to ensure the charity continues to thrive.

The arts-based charity supports young people, primarily from disadvantaged backgrounds, to discover and develop their interest and talent for craft skills. Demand for places at TCDT workshops continues to grow, and the charity expanded both its workshops and its school partnership this past year.

A highlight for many TCDT students is the now annual opportunity to take over a window display at Fortnum & Mason (Piccadilly). In 2024, the display, curated by Simon Costin, was themed around Japanese art and culture. It showcased three crafts developed in workshops during the summer holidays:

(1) Marbling: 10 students created Suminagashi marbled sheer silk panels in black and white, a technique dating back to the 8th century. These dramatic panels are featured as a backdrop in the display. Rachel O'Connell, a Cockpit artist and resident, led the workshop.

(2) Furniture Making: Students crafted Japanese solid hardwood beech stools using traditional joinery techniques, highlighting the skill and craftsmanship of Japanese furniture making. The team at New School Of Furniture Making supported the project.

(3) Embroidery: Students created 3D petals arranged in the Ikebana style, the Japanese art of flower arranging, symbolizing 'making flowers come alive'. Lucy J Newman, another Cockpit artist and resident, was the instructor.

This display not only celebrates Japanese culture but also the creativity of young Londoners.

TCDT Founder and CEO Penny Bendall said, 'Fortnum & Mason have given TCDT students an opportunity they would never have dreamed of. Some have never visited London before, and many would not have been to Fortnum’s. They [were all] incredibly excited, and they will all be sent images of the window to add to their portfolios. It [has made] them very proud!

Photos from TCDT's furniture and embroidery workshops are featured here (left page) along with a close-up of the window display. Images are courtesy of The Creative

Page 22: CGA winners, Magpie Dance.

Page 24: Representatives from SignHealth (left) and from winners APARU (right).

Page 25: Clothworker Saeed Atcha (right) facilitates a Q&A with SignHealth.

TRUSTEESHIP

For more than two decades, we have been establishing trusteeship as a core purpose of our membership, and positioning The Clothworkers’ Company as a grantmaker and a champion for improvement in charity governance across the UK.

TRUSTEESHIP AND MEMBERS

Service is one of our primary objects as a company, both for Members and for the organisation. Clothworkers come together in friendship, giving their time and talents to serve others and to make a positive and sustained impact within our livery company, the City of London and beyond. They fill positions on our Court of Assistants (our governing body) and take on community roles – more than 38% have reported serving as trustees or school governors, and as volunteers. It is our aim to inspire and to nurture that spirit of service at all levels of our organisation. While the majority of Clothworkers may not be connected to the textiles industry by profession, we know they all have experience, expertise and skills that can be directed towards making a difference within The Company and in their own communities.

Our flourishing collaboration with our grantee and partner Reach Volunteering provides a platform

that enables us to promote trustee vacancies to Clothworkers, which we publish directly to the Members’ Area and highlight in our monthly e-newsletter, along with occasional trustee vacancies shared by grant recipients of The Clothworkers' Foundation. The Trustee Leadership Programme, which we also fund, is offered free of charge to Members interested in trusteeship who need a foundation before they join a board. For those already experienced as trustees, a number of seminars are offered by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), and sponsored by The Company, which Members are encouraged to attend whenever possible.

We also encourage Clothworkers to consider other areas of service. Members interested in volunteering as a school governor are directed to opportunities through the Livery Schools Link. Clothworkers can use their experience and time to help mentor young people through the Habs Aspire programme (managed by The Haberdashers' Company). Finally, other opportunities for onetime volunteering or fundraising are also promoted to Members as and when they arise.

ANNUAL CHARITY GOVERNANCE AWARDS

We are proud to sponsor and host the annual Charity

TRUSTEESHIP

Governance Awards, celebrating best practice among boards and rewarding trustee leadership throughout the UK. The awards are made possible through the partnerships we have forged with NPC, Prospectus and Reach Volunteering. We are grateful to our Clothworker members for continuing to participate in the Charity Governance Awards, volunteering as judges for the first-round review of submitted eligible entries.

In May 2024, the ninth annual Charity Governance Awards ceremony was held at Drapers' Hall. The 18 charities shortlisted for the awards covered a diverse range of activities, including action for climate change, numeracy skills

for children, tackling homelessness, support for carers, dance training for people with learning disabilities and more. The six organisations that took home trophies and cash prizes included:

• Board Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Disability Rights UK SignHealth received a special commendation

• Transforming With Digital: Crohn's & Colitis UK

• Improving Impact in Small Charities: APARU (0-3 paid staff) and Become Charity (430 paid staff)

• From Systemic Challenge to Meaningful Change: Recovery Cymru Community

• People in Governance: Magpie Dance

In addition to the £5k prize (awarded as an unrestricted grant) for winners, runners-up also received £1k prize. The Company also continued to offer all shortlisted charities a one-year membership with the Association of Chairs (for chairs and vice chairs), and a training opportunity with Cause4 for a new or inexperienced trustee to help get them started in their new roles.

The ceremony included an inspiring keynote address by Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trust and former Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth. It was hosted by Clothworker Saeed Atcha MBE DL (Founding CEO of YouthLeads), who also

facilitated a discussion panel with representatives from SignHealth. We know from our external five-year review of the awards, in 2020, that they continued to be a unique opportunity to celebrate the importance of good charity governance, and they are perceived as a valuable way to recognise the work of charity trustees and draw wider attention to important issues faced by charity boards.

GRANTS FOR GOVERNANCE

Beyond promoting and amplifying stories of exemplary trusteeship, The Company has established itself as a significant grant maker to support better charity governance. Working with our

partners, we sponsor organisations and initiatives aimed at enhancing the capability of those already serving, increasing participation of would-be trustees, and improving diversity and inclusivity on boards.

A charity’s service users are dependent on its trustees for the leadership required to keep the organisation capable, nimble and sustainable. This means having the right breadth of talent, lived experience and range of skills at the table. Being a trustee is hard work and challenging, but 93% of trustees say it is immensely fulfilling. And yet, charity boards still struggle to develop policies or create environments where equity, diversity and inclusion thrive, and to recruit the expertise,

experience and talent they need to govern effectively.

Recognising these challenges, we awarded an unrestricted grant of £20,000 to a new organisation, the Young Trustees Movement. This has enabled the organisation to add six new sessions to its Champion Training programme, set up new Community Cafe events, and recruit young trustee facilitators and speakers.

We continue to invest in and support the Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme. Cause4 delivers training for new or inexperienced trustees each year, both in-person and virtually. In addition, we continue to fund free, online trustee seminars through our partners at New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), which include relevant topics and expert panels.

The Company has maintained its support of the Reach Volunteering TrusteeWorks recruitment service. Despite predictions that the cost of living crisis would reduce volunteering, Reach helped fill 1,515 trustee vacancies and placed another 2,976 volunteers in 2024. These volunteers made valuable contributions in skills, experience and diverse perspectives to more than 1,300 organisations in the UK – a 17% increase on the prior year!

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

We continue to preserve, make accessible and develop our unique collections of archives and works of art, whilst seeking to support talent and nurture skills in selected endangered crafts.

COLLECTIONS

The highlight of the year was undoubtedly the public display of our contemporary tapestry in Scotland for the first time. Chris Ofili: The Caged Bird’s Song ran at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh from 28 June to 5 October, to public and press acclaim.

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

An homage to the making process, the exhibition featured stunning photography and video footage documenting the weaving of the work, alongside Ofili’s original watercolour design for the triptych. On opening day, visitors were moved to tears by the display and mastery of the work, beautifully lit against a dark backdrop.

Clothworkers had long wanted to display the tapestry to a 'home' audience in Scotland, and what better place to do so than in the studio in which it was painstakingly woven by five master weavers over three years. We rounded off the show with a very special Members’ tour and dinner on the weaving floor in late September. The tapestry will now go into safe storage, pending plans

for a spectacular installation in the seventh Clothworkers' Hall.

We have been heavily involved with the professional team working on the seventh hall, developing specifications for new archive and plate vaults, and providing information, photography and advice on the display and storage of our extensive collections of works of art to conservators, lighting experts, engineers and architects. A number of visits have been undertaken to our offsite storage facilities to audit and inspect heritage items, and to aid the interior design team in its reimagining of our collections in an entirely new space.

Early in the year, we took delivery of Ryan McClean’s silver ‘fibonacci’

bowl, the latest acquisition to our important and growing contemporary silver collection. The piece is now in safe storage with our capsule collection of silver at Drapers’ Hall; it can be seen by Members attending events there. We were delighted that it won a bronze award (in the 3D finished silver, seniors’ category) at the Goldsmiths Craft & Design Council Awards (GC&DC) last March. The piece – inspired by mathematical patterns and sequences in nature – was featured in the Clothworker magazine (Issue 27, winter 2024).

We have recently begun conversations with the silversmith Hamish Dobbie for an important commission of a jug and suite of beakers (for water) to be ready to

help us celebrate our move to our new livery hall.

We initiated two new bookbinding commissions. The first with Stephen Conway (book selection still to be made), and the second with Midori Kunikata-Cockram (of Intimate Leaves from a Designer’s Notebook , by John Ryder, printed by renowned bindery Glasg Gregynog).

CRAFT SUPPORT

Alongside our commissioning activity, we continue to nurture talent and support skills training in our selected crafts.

Since 2007, we have supported Designer Bookbinders (DB) – one of the foremost societies devoted to the craft of contemporary bookbinding, principally through the provision of bursaries and competition prizes.

In 2024, we provided the first of a new tranche of funding (over three years) to Designer Bookbinders to continue its Licentiate Scheme, developed to mentor and upskill a new body of Licentiates, following a successful pilot in 2022. Each Licentiate receives an annual bursary to fund training opportunities that are tailored to individual development needs. This might include attendance

at workshops, bespoke one-toone training, and sessions with their individual mentors. Training undertaken last year included an intensive course on leather dyeing, run by Nicky Oliver; rough edge gilding by Kathy Abbott; gold tooling by Tracey Rowledge; vellum bindings by Stuart Brockman; and decorative techniques run by Kate Holland – to name but a few.

Licentiate Amy Kitcherside commented: 'Receiving the bursary from The Clothworkers’ Company has been invaluable, as sadly, there are very few courses or apprenticeships in advanced bookbinding or designer binding in the UK. I would never have been

Page 26: Peter Medcalf Freedom record, 16th century. Pages 27-28: Photos from the Dovecot Studios exhibition, Chris Ofili: The Caged Bird's Song. Page 29 (above): Ryan McClean's 'fibonacci' silver bowl.

“The Clothworkers’ generosity has given me the rare opportunity to attend bespoke courses that focus on specific areas of bookbinding I feel I need training or further practice in. It means I’ve been able to learn from people who are masters in their fields and from tutors whose work I admire.”

Amy Kitcherside, DB Licentiate

Left: Jane Adams colourful leather dyeing Below: Amy working on leather doublures.

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

able to learn all these traditional skills without this help and support. The Clothworkers’ generosity has given me the rare opportunity to attend bespoke courses that focus on specific areas of bookbinding I feel I need training or further practice in. It means I’ve been able to learn from people who are masters in their fields and from tutors whose work I admire.'

There were a total of nine Licentiates on the scheme in 2024. It is anticipated that all will progress through to Fellowship status in the coming years, and will very likely become DB educators and trainers in the future. Indeed, Amy is already teaching at Shepherds Bookbinders and West Dean College. Fellow Licentiate Kate Rochester teaches at City Lit. The scheme is creating a pipeline of future tutors to ensure the transfer of threatened skills and future sustainability of the craft.

In silver, we continue to fund bursaries that enable students to purchase essential tools and precious metals at Bishopsland Educational Trust (now based at the National Trust’s Heritage and Rural Skills Centre at the Buscot and Coleshill Estate, Oxfordshire), support Rod Kelly’s South House Silver Workshop Trust residential

postgraduate scholarship scheme, and fund a prize for hand silversmithing at the prestigious Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council annual Awards each March.

We have also, with the South Square Trust, co-funded the Contemporary British Silversmiths (CBS) Skills Training Programme (STP) since 2021. CBS is the only membership body in the UK representing professional silversmiths, and the STP is tailored to meet industry demand and fill key skills gaps. In upskilling graduate and mid-career makers, it aims to ‘train future trainers’, and thus put into practice a virtuous cycle of skills transfer.

There are very few professional development opportunities for mid-career silversmiths in the UK and younger makers are increasingly leaving university courses with less and less benchtime experience. Many technical skills are at risk of dying out when senior craftsmen retire. Thus, the need for the scheme is paramount.

In 2024, CBS delivered three intensive in-person training events, run by master craftsmen, from its new base at Yorkshire Arts Space. These included a week-long tray-sinking course with master silversmith Angus McFadyen, which enabled participants to

make two large pieces of work –often for the first time – under expert tuition and supervision. One participant commented: 'This course has given me the confidence to work on larger silver objects, which has helped me overcome any fear of working with larger amounts of silver.'

Intensive courses in seamed vessel raising and wire and tube making using a drawbench – delivered by Adrian Hope and Ray Walton respectively – were also offered.

Whilst the collaborative atmosphere engendered by inperson tuition alongside peers is priceless, CBS recognizes the need to additionally provide an online offer, where participation costs and location are barriers to makers. As such, it has recently run a further training course on hinge making, delivered online by Patrick Davison. This comprised a weekly tutorial over Zoom, Vimeo training videos, a printed course book and a dedicated WhatsApp group so that the tutor and students could communicate outside of the tutorial times and beyond the end of the training. Post-course reflection and continuation of learning – putting newly acquired skills into practice at home and asking follow-up questions – is viewed as fundamental to the learning process.

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

Below: Contemporary British Silversmiths (CBS) Skills Training Programme (STP) course in seamed vessel raising. This was one of three intensive in-person training events, run by master craftsmen, from the new CBS base at Yorkshire Arts Space.

MILITARY AFFILIATES

We are proud to support our military affiliates, and continued to award grants to HMS Dauntless, the Scots Guards, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps, and the Army Cadet Force (41 Cadet Detachment Dagenham). Our financial support primarily assisted with a range of welfare activities for the service men and women, and their families, as well as grants for special projects.

HMS Dauntless and her crew spent the first part of the year preparing for future operations in support of the UK Carrier Strike Group, primarily commissioning critical propulsion and combat systems. The Welfare Committee deployed our £20,000 grant towards a number of initiatives, including revitalising the HMS Dauntless Library and Classroom, renovating the Junior Rate Marine Engineer and Weapon Engineer Messes, and updating the AV and entertainment equipment in the Senior Rates Mess. The grant also funded bursaries that subsidise travel costs for sailors from the Commonwealth or overseas territories, and community events that demonstrate gratitude to families for their unwavering support of the crew.

We hosted the Scots Guards at

Merchant Taylors' Hall in May 2024 for the Community Awards ceremony and luncheon, which we sponsored again. At that time, Master Denis Clough (then First Warden) signed the Armed Forces Covenant on behalf of The Company. We also awarded a grant to support the Soldiers and Family Welfare Programme. The battalion used funds to cover the costs of refreshments and supplies for soldiers at the WVRS centre and weekly coffee mornings for soldiers' partners. The grant also covered a number of family initiatives, such as family days out to Flamingo Land, a group Christmas shopping trip to York

and a family Christmas fair where every child with a parent serving in the battalion received a present.

The second payment of our threeyear grant to fund a core salary cost to the FANY was made in 2024, along with a commitment to support IT upgrades. While there were no new major deployments for the volunteer corp in 2024, it did complete a move from its temporary home within Wellington Barracks to a permanent HQ at East Picquet Lodge (also within Wellington Barracks), and formed an IT advisory group to help it decide how best to deploy our IT grant.

Above: Master Denis Clough (then First Warden) signs the Armed Forces Covenant (witnessed by The Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith).

Our Annual Review and Members' Supplement are printed on paper certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) by Woodrow Press Ltd, which aims to reduce at source the effect its operations have on the environment and is committed to continual improvement, prevention of pollution, and compliance with legislation or industry standards.

The Clothworkers' Company Annual Review 2024