Heart Gallery named as a new sponsor for top trade fair award

Organisers of the British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) have announced a new sponsor for the next edition of their prestigious awards, to be presented during the show next year.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Aug 2018, 08:35 BST
Updated 8th Aug 2018, 09:38 BST
Alison BartramAlison Bartram
Alison Bartram

Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge will sponsor the Best Newcomer Award at the ceremony.

Read: New Eureka museum on Wirral waterfront gets £3m funding boostAlison Bartram, owner of Heart Gallery, said: “I am delighted to have been asked to sponsor the BCTF Best Newcomer Award and hope that I can fill the big shoes that Angie and Paul (of previous category sponsor, Craft & Design Online magazine) have left for me to fill. It’s an absolute honour and I am really looking forward to 2019.

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"I would love to offer exhibition opportunities to newcomers and nurture them through the process as well. What I can offer depends on who the winner of Best Newcomer is. For example, if we select an artist it could be a solo show, but a jewellery designer would probably form part of a group exhibition in the gallery.”

Read: Halifax Station Gateway: Progress on the scheme so farHeart Gallery opened in 2006 with a clear vision to support artists and designers and makers in the UK and hopefully change the way people shop by seeing how important it is to support and shop locally.

Alison has been visiting BCTF to help fulfil this remit for almost two decades.

She said: “We have helped to put Hebden Bridge on the map as a town full of independent shops that meant in 2016 we won two awards – Best Small Market Town and The People’s Choice.”

For more information on the awards next year, visit www.bctf.co.uk.

Read: Rising number of child protection plans in Calderdale

Related topics:OrganisersHebden Bridge