About
CraftGate - the front door into traditional building skills.
We believe that heritage building crafts should be as accessible as any other career pathway - and that the sector needs a structured, visible, and welcoming gateway for the next generation.
Our mission
Heritage crafts are disappearing - not because the work has gone, but because the people who know how to do it are retiring without successors. CraftGate exists to fix that pipeline.
We run three learner pathways through one verified host network: free 6–12 week pre-apprenticeship placements for 16–25s with a secured destination at the end; a paid career-change route for adults moving into the trade; and short-form passion-learner experiences for committed hobbyists.
Around those, the Endangered Crafts campaign keeps the most at-risk skills visible, and the Corporate Partners programme gives heritage employers, conservation contractors, and institutional estates a way to fund and recruit from the same pipeline they depend on.
| Crafts covered | Nine traditional building crafts, from stonemasonry and lime plastering to blacksmithing |
|---|---|
| Learner pathways | Three: pre-apprenticeship placements for 16–25s, a career-change route for adults, and short passion-learner experiences |
| Cost to learners | Free for learners aged 16–25; the adult pathways are paid |
| How it works | A curated programme: every host is vetted and every listing reviewed |
| Launch | Pilot programme running in 2026 |
What CraftGate is - and isn't
CraftGate is
- A curated platform for heritage craft placements
- A quality assurance and verification body for hosts
- A connector between students, schools, and craftspeople
- A structured pathway from curiosity to confirmed career
- A platform that puts craft and quality first
CraftGate is not
- Not a training provider or awarding body
- Not an employment agency
- Not a generic work-experience board
- Not open access - every host is vetted, every listing reviewed
The team
Charlotte
Founder
Charlotte trained as a sculptor, learning to cast bronze by lost wax and aluminium by sand at Norwich School of Art. Her degree show placed hand-cast metal signs into the streets of Norwich - objects made using ancient techniques, positioned to alter how people moved through a city. Within a year of graduating she was in Nairobi, collaborating with local craftsmen and school pupils to build a basketball court at Muthurwa Primary School.
After Norwich, Charlotte studied design and landscape at Falmouth (PGCert in Interior and Landscape Design, 2010) then completed an MA in International Architectural Regeneration and Development at Oxford Brookes, where her thesis explored the reinvention of a deserted Spanish village through agritourism, education and art.
Charlotte began her heritage career in 2012 as a Heritage Assistant at Oxford City Council and spent 14 years working within the heritage sector - in large consultancies, small architectural practices, and freelance work - including six years as sole Conservation Officer for Coventry City Council, where she managed listed building casework for the Grade I Charterhouse and St Mary's Guildhall, oversaw the restoration of summerhouses within the Grade II* registered Stoney Road Allotments, and advised on the temporary interventions of the 2021 City of Culture programme. In 2023, whilst working full-time as Conservation Officer at Coventry, she completed a PGCert in Building Conservation at Birmingham City University.
It was across those roles that she saw the skills crisis at close range: experienced craftspeople retiring, no one trained to replace them, generations of know-how leaving the trade not because anyone wanted it lost but because the chain between master and apprentice had broken.
CraftGate is the result - a sculptor's understanding of what it means to learn through materials, a conservationist's knowledge of what is being lost, and a conviction that the pipeline between the two must be built before the knowledge runs out. Charlotte still works with clay and bronze. As a late-diagnosed dyslexic, she knows that aptitude for craft does not depend on academic confidence - and that the sector's future relies on welcoming learners who think and work with their hands. She founded CraftGate on the principle that heritage skills belong to anyone drawn to them, and that equal opportunities and a safe working environment are not optional extras but the foundation of every placement.
Our Commitment
What CraftGate commits to
CraftGate secures destinations for placement students - apprenticeships, employment, or further structured training - working alongside hosts from Week 8 of each placement. Where a destination cannot be secured by the end of placement, CraftGate continues to work with the student. And for 24 months after placement ends, every CraftGate alumnus has a named contact at CraftGate, a quarterly check-in, and a route back to us if something goes wrong in their early career. Our responsibility does not end when a placement does.
Get involved
Whether you're a student, a craft firm, or a heritage funder - we'd love to hear from you.