QEST

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) is a charity which helps to sustain traditional and contemporary craft skills by funding the education of talented and aspiring individuals on their continuing journey to excellence. To date, QEST has awarded some 800 Scholarships and Apprenticeships, totalling £5.5 million. Ceramicists, sculptors, embroiderers, thatchers, woodworkers, printmakers, and many more have honed their skills with help from QEST – often becoming leaders in their field – and making a vital contribution to the British craft industry. We have an ambition to increase QEST’s annual charitable giving to £1 million by end 2024, and which will include programmes we are currently developing as part of our Crafting Tomorrow programme to inspire and engage the future generation of professional makers. This includes a recent partnership with the National Saturday Club to develop Craft&Making Clubs across the UK for 13–16-year-olds.