Young people’s consultation: Crafts Council
The Crafts Council, the national charity for craft, commissioned Abigail D’Amore Associates to facilitate a series of creative workshops with young people aged 16–19 as part of Creative Careers Month 2025.
Working with students from Birmingham Ormiston Academy, the workshops were designed to explore young people’s perceptions of craft, creativity and careers in the creative industries, and to ensure that young people’s voices directly informed the development of the Crafts Council’s national careers campaign.
Using a series of facilitated creative exercises, the sessions explored:
What craft means to young people today
Why craft is, or is not, seen as important
Young people’s perceptions of careers in the creative industries
How creative careers information could be communicated more effectively to other young people
A key focus of the work was creating an inclusive and engaging space where young people felt able to contribute honestly, creatively and confidently. The workshops encouraged participants not only to reflect on their own experiences and assumptions, but also to actively shape how information about creative careers would be shared with others.
Following the workshops, we distilled and synthesised the young people’s ideas, feedback and creative responses into a set of recommendations for the Crafts Council. These insights directly informed the development of a national zine, which was subsequently distributed to schools across England to encourage more young people to consider careers in the creative industries.
Read the final zine and campaign output.
“Abi is a highly trusted and professional facilitator with deep expertise in creative engagement. I have worked with Abi on a number of projects including the evaluation of Creativity Collaboratives where she led a co-created approach to data collection and more recently facilitated workshops with secondary school pupils that inspired the participants to consider the breadth of craft careers, but also informed a genuinely impactful design brief.
I appreciate Abi for her creative and inclusive approach to facilitation that ensures every voice is heard and ability to translate complex ideas into meaningful outcomes. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Abi to anyone looking for an expert who brings both sector insight, authentic inclusion and creativity to their work.”
Amanda Rigler, Senior Learning & Participation Manager, Crafts Council
