Peninsula Crafts started in April 1997 with a view to developing a friendly and supportive environment for local non- professional crafts people living on the Shotley Peninsula and its environs.
Its aim was to enable its members to showcase their crafts and to help them sell items at carefully managed events. As a group we actively support and encourage members to develop and expand their talents.
We have a diverse range of crafts represented by our members including woodturners, potters, textile skills, beading, card makers and mixed media, along with jewellery makers, knitting, crochet, needle felting and garden woodwork. High standards and originality are sought after and prized with new items being presented at our shows and meetings.
Prospective members are very welcome and will be asked to submit a few pieces of work for review at a selection meeting to ensure that it is a good fit with the existing members. We are still a smallish group but have recently grown giving us a wider range of crafts to present to the public at our shows.
We hold several meetings a year to which all members are welcome to come and discuss the group’s progress, how to raise its profile and have a general chat and catch up. All members are encouraged to participate in the meetings and decisions are made as a group; as you can imagine with a group of individual crafters, these discussions can be lively.
Over the past couple of years, we have been expanding the range of shows we host to give members a wider audience for their skills and to help promote crafts in general. This has been a difficult year for crafters in general with many shows and meetings having to be cancelled, which is likely to continue for some time to come.
However, after having to cancel our spring show, the group has decided that we will continue with our main autumn show which will run for two days over the weekend of 24 and 25 October 2020, abiding by all of the government guidelines. There is still uncertainly but we like to be optimistic and are passionate about showing off our skills and being able to pass this passion onto those who come to our shows. Several of our members will also demonstrate their craft.
Come and see us at Woolverstone Hall over the weekend October 24-25 between 10am and 4pm. We will hold the show in the gym, enabling us to maintain social distancing and an effective one-way system.
We look forward to welcoming visitors again in what we believe will be a safe and enjoyable outing.
Peter Haddock