Category: Blog

The window installation, All Around My Hat, is a collaboration between TCDT and Lock & Co. Hatters, bringing together work from several recent specialist workshops. The concept was designed by TCDT Trustee, curator and designer Simon Costin, incorporating Lock & Co. Panama hats.

• Jewellery & Metalwork: At The Goldsmiths’ Centre, students worked with award-winning Tomiko Ravn to create enamelled daffodils and insects. In separate workshops, expert jeweller Paul Ravn guided students in crafting silver hatpins and copper snowdrops, introducing traditional techniques such as sawing, soldering, and annealing.

• Textiles & Trimmings: Under the guidance of embroidery artist Lucy Newman, students created highly detailed stumpwork embroidery flowers and insects. Renowned designer Wendy Cushing led sessions in passementerie, where students produced decorative tassels and trimmings, while embroidered butterflies were crafted by students at a workshop with Royal Warrant holder Hand & Lock.

• Gilding: The gilded motifs, embellished with 23-carat gold leaf, were produced by students during a workshop run by The Royal Collection Trust.

• Calligraphy: The “chorus” of All Around My Hat was created by Jenny Collier of London Scribes. Jenny recently led a TCDT calligraphy workshop at Cockpit Arts, Bloomsbury.

Together, these works create a layered and visually rich display, celebrating traditional craftsmanship and demonstrating how historic skills can be reimagined in a contemporary context.

To celebrate the collaboration, Lock & Co. will generously host an evening reception for 60 guests, during which Managing Director Ben Dalrymple will present the TCDT Annual Achievement Prize.

About The Creative Dimension Trust

The Creative Dimension Trust (TCDT) offers workshops designed to equip talented young people with the skills and confidence to pursue careers where core hand skills – such as manual dexterity, draftsmanship, and the ability to understand and reconstruct three-dimensional structures – are essential.

Courses are free of charge for all successful applicants, with recruitment conducted directly through schools in areas of social and economic deprivation or geographic isolation. TCDT aims for 80% of participants to come from underserved backgrounds.

Skills are taught by craft specialists who are acknowledged leaders in their fields. These are not children’s art classes; rather, they are opportunities to learn, experiment, build confidence, draw inspiration from top professionals, and explore potential career paths. Students leave with a clearer understanding of what is possible and how to achieve it.

Support Our Work

TCDT is reliant on donations and we are continuously fundraising to ensure we can continue to offer FREE tuition and materials to our students. If you are able to donate, your help would be very welcome. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to shaping future careers together.

TCDT is thrilled to announce that on 17 March 2026, Buckingham Palace confirmed that His Majesty The King has graciously agreed to become Patron of the charity.

TCDT offers workshops designed to equip talented young people with the skills and confidence to pursue careers in fields where core hand skills – such as manual dexterity, draftsmanship, and the ability to understand and reconstruct three-dimensional structures – are essential.

Courses are free of charge for all successful applicants, with recruitment conducted directly through schools in areas of social and economic deprivation or geographic isolation. TCDT aims for 80% of participants to come from underserved backgrounds.

Skills are taught by craft specialists who are acknowledged leaders in their fields. These are not children’s art classes; rather, they provide opportunities to learn, experiment, build confidence, draw inspiration from top professionals, and explore potential career paths. Students leave with a clearer understanding of what is possible and how to achieve it.

Founder Penny Bendall comments, “The Royal Patronage is a tremendous honour made possible only through the dedication, hard work, and commitment of our tutors, partners, donors, and other supporters over the past ten years. Having His Majesty as our Royal Patron will provide vital publicity for our work and enable our achievements and contributions to society to be recognised and brought to wider attention.”

In a time of school budget cuts, an increased focus on STEM subjects, and excessive screen time, underserved students often miss out on opportunities to develop fine motor skills and spatial awareness. These abilities are vital not only in creative industries – a vast employment sector – but also in fields such as architecture and medicine. Roger Kneebone, Professor of Surgical Education at Imperial College, warns that today’s medical students “might have high academic grades but cannot cut or sew,” due to a lack of craft experience. While extracurricular programs and networks exist to support talent in areas like music and sport, there is no equivalent for crafts.

Last year alone, TCDT received nearly 1,000 applications, offering more than 500 workshop places and 23 work experience placements. Since inception, TCDT has engaged with over 675 schools and taught more than 110 different specialist skills.

The Creative Dimension Trust’s programme of Insight Days offers students aged 16–21 a unique opportunity to step inside the working world of some of the UK’s most successful makers.

 

These days include visits to internationally renowned companies such as Theo Fennell, Soane, Tom Faulkner, Bill Amberg, Cox London and more. Through these carefully curated experiences, students spend meaningful time within leading creative businesses, gaining first-hand insight into how each company operates day to day. From exploring production processes and understanding how creative businesses are structured, to hearing directly from founders and teams about their journeys, challenges and successes, students gain an authentic and inspiring understanding of what a career in the creative industries can look like. These Insight Days are designed to broaden horizons, build confidence, and help young people make informed decisions about their future pathways.

 

Visit the Work Experience page for further details about each opportunity.

We’re pleased to let you know that The Creative Dimension Trust has been selected to take part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025, the UK’s largest match-funding campaign.

 

When the public donates to a charity through a Big Give campaign, they ask funders (philanthropists, foundations or corporates) to match that donation. So, £50 from a member of the public, becomes £100 for TCDT.

During the seven-day Christmas Challenge, any donation made to TCDT via theBigGive.org.uk will be doubled. AKO Foundation, our assigned Big Give Champion, have generously committed to doubling public donations up to a total of £3,000.

If you are planning to support us this year, these dates are the ideal time to do so. In a climate of ongoing school budget cutbacks, your contribution will go even further – directly enabling more young people to access our free workshops, specialist tuition, work-experience opportunities and pathways into higher education and employment.

We would also be incredibly grateful if you could share this opportunity with your networks – friends, colleagues, community groups, or organisations who may be interested in supporting young people through our programmes.

 

Match-funding window Midday on 2^nd December to midday on 9^th December 2025

£25 → £50

Gives one student the specialist materials they need to participate in a workshop

£50 → £100

Covers one student for a two-day workshop, including expert tuition, materials, and equipment

£100 → £200

Enables two students to take part in a five-week school programme

£250 → £500

Provides one student with an intensive 30-hour workshop, including expert tuition, materials, and equipment

 

Big Give are a registered charity (1136547)

Announcing The Creative Dimension Trust 10th Anniversary Review 2025

Read the full 84-page review here.

We are thrilled to launch The Creative Dimension Trust 10th Anniversary Review 2025, celebrating a decade of transforming young lives through creativity. From our first pilot workshops to an expanding community and vibrant creative hub, TCDT has grown into a dynamic learning network connecting thousands of students with master craftspeople. These ten years have been full of inspiration, skill-building, and unforgettable experiences.

Inside the review, discover the stories, collaborations, and projects that have shaped TCDT—and see how we are paving the way for the next ten years of opportunity, innovation, and creative impact.

TCDT was created to give talented young people hands-on access to specialist craft skills—from gilding and embroidery to architecture and jewellery making. This year alone, TCDT received over 1,200 applications, enabling us to offer nearly 600 workshop places and 37 work experiences.

In a time of school budget cuts, an increased focus on STEM subjects, and excessive screen time, underserved students often miss out on opportunities to develop fine motor skills and spatial awareness. These abilities are vital not only in creative industries—a vast and growing employment sector—but also in fields such as architecture and medicine.

In response, TCDT offers a lifeline to those who love to build, design, and create. It has grown from a handful of workshops into an influential community, connecting thousands of students with master craftspeople and world-renowned institutions. These aren’t just art classes; they are career-shaping experiences led by specialists from fields spanning craft, design, conservation, and engineering.

Since inception, TCDT has:

• Reached nearly 700 schools
• Delivered over 6,700 hours of intensive teaching
• Offered 299 workshops and 121 work experience placements.

Most importantly, around 80% of participants come from underserved backgrounds, bringing opportunity where it’s needed most.

Each TCDT experience is free to attend and led by expert craftspeople, helping students gain confidence, technical skill, and an understanding of real career pathways. Over the years, many have gone on to study and work in creative industries.

TCDT’s collaborations with institutions such as Fortnum & Mason, The Royal Household, Hermès, V&A East, and The Goldsmiths’ Centre continue to open extraordinary doors for students, connecting them with professionals and creative workplaces.

The last ten years have been extraordinary. The next ten will be transformational.

Read the full 84-page review here.

TCDT has released its first research report – and its findings point to a growing skills gap affecting some of the UK’s most important industries. The study reveals that visual sensitivity, manual dexterity, and 2D to 3D thinking are essential abilities across a remarkably wide range of professions, yet opportunities for young people to develop these skills are rapidly declining.

The report draws on insights from 76 leading professionals across 19 industries, including architecture, engineering, jewellery, interior design, fashion, leatherworking, medicine, and the arts. Contributors came from high-profile organisations such as Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, Theo Fennell, Stephen Webster, NHS hospitals, the Royal College of Art, the Francis Crick Institute, the National Theatre, the Royal School of Needlework, Fortnum & Mason, Tom Dixon, AKT II, and the London College of Fashion.

Despite their diverse fields, respondents consistently shared concern that hands-on skills and abilities are becoming harder to find in new applicants. The report arrives at a time when arts education is facing significant challenges. Many schools have cut creative subjects from their GCSE options altogether, while national policy continues to prioritise STEM subjects and digital proficiency.

This erosion of opportunity is happening despite the UK’s creative industries generating £126 billion in 2022 and growing 32% between 2010 and 2019 – far above the national average. Unlike sports or music, where extracurricular opportunities are common, many young people have no access to hand-skill development outside the classroom.

Professionals from across sectors described how a lack of hands-on experience is impacting students’ preparedness for the workplace. “Students have spent so much time in front of screens and so little time using their hands that they have lost the dexterity for stitching or sewing up patients,” says Professor Roger Kneebone, Imperial College London

Employers also reported that translating 2D concepts into 3D forms—a fundamental ability in countless design- and science-based careers—is increasingly rare in applicants. 93% of respondents said candidates who have taken initiative to train outside of school have a clear advantage when seeking employment.

TCDT Founder and CEO Penny Bendall notes, “Underserved students are simply not getting opportunities to build fine hand skills and think in 3D terms. These skills are essential not only in creative industries but also in engineering, architecture, and medicine.”

The report also underscores the value of diverse teams—those who bring different backgrounds, skill sets, and ways of thinking. TCDT draws its students from underserved communities, meaning that we are well-placed to help companies build the inclusive, multi-skilled teams they increasingly rely on.

In response to the findings, TCDT will expand its collaborations to even more professions, ensuring that our workshops reflect real industry needs. The report will also be incorporated into future lesson plans and shared with schools, helping raise awareness of the long-term career value of visual and manual skills.

Read the full report here.

10th Anniversary

A human-sized, wearable tassel has been crafted to celebrate TCDT’s 10th Anniversary. Created by tutor Wendy Cushing, the giant tassel features smaller pieces made during various TCDT workshops.

Smaller tassels and trimmings adorning the piece were made at two Tassel Making – Passementerie workshops, led by Wendy Cushing, who has a wealth of knowledge after 44 years in the trade and continues to design and supply trimmings around the world.

The enamelled silver butterflies were crafted during summer workshops at The Goldsmiths’ Centre. Students were taught techniques such as shaping, bending, hammering, sawing, soldering, texturing and enamelling with materials including silver, copper and brass. The workshop was run by Tomiko Ravn, an award-winning specialist enameller with associated jewellery expertise.

The gilded baubles, embellished with 23 carat gold leaf, were created at the Gilding workshop run by The Royal Collection Trust. The Royal Collection Trust aims to care for, and conserve, the Royal Collection with the goal of promoting access and enjoyment. During their time there, students visited the Furniture, Metals and Ceramics workshops to learn how to lay gold leaf.

The 3D embroidered petals were produced at Lucy Newman’s Hand Embroidery Creative Colour and Thread Painting. Embroidery artist Lucy Newman is known for her abstract thread paintings, and opened her bespoke hand embroidery studio, LJN STUDIO, in 2017.

The eye-catching hand beaded flowers were created at a workshop with Royal Warrant holder Hand & Lock. Students were taught the company’s time-honoured design methods and embroidery techniques, which have remained largely unchanged since 1767.

The leather knots were made as part of TCDT’s schools workshop programme. Over five weeks, award-winning master leatherworker and sculptor Candice Lau taught 10 students at La Sainte Union Catholic School in North London.

The giant tassel has been well received, with World of Interiors covering the story as well as creating a video about the project, filmed at the Livery Halls of The Carpenters’ Company and the Drapers’ Company in The City of London.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGnqqTqIbDw/?igsh=eGhnNTdvZXJ3Z2t6

The 2023 Creative Dimension Trust review is now available.

 

The magic of turning a 2D design into 3D reality is at the core of The Creative Dimension Trust.

 

This transferable skill is essential to a multitude of careers, ranging from architecture to fabrication to patisserie. Each year we add more workshops to help further develop this capability in students, with Hat Making at Lock & Co., Architectural Drawing at AHMM, Bookbinding at Shepherds Bindery, and Perfume Making at Floris newly added to our portfolio which now exceeds 90 subjects.

This year, we received over 750 applications and taught 43 skills to 373 students.

Also driven by demand from our highly ambitious students, we re-launched our work experience programme in 2023 with 24 students taking part. This will continue to expand, helping young people to make informed decisions about their future and realise their full potential.

 

Click below to find out more about the exciting opportunities offered to students in 2023!

 

 

Read The Creative Dimension Trust 2023 Workshops Review

A window containing work created by TCDT students is currently on display at Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly until Wednesday 20th September. Inspired by the idea of living in outer space, it was designed by TCDT trustee and set designer/curator Simon Costin and made by our students.

 

 

Students from four different workshops came together to create this unique display:

• Three architectural models were constructed in workshops at Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Architects, where students benefitted from one-to-one guidance from AHMM’s head model maker.
• Glass planets and shooting stars were cut and blended at a fused glass workshop at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
• Silver and enamel comets were created by students under the tutelage of award-winning Tomiko Ravn at a workshop at The Goldsmiths’ Centre.
• Marionette spaceman puppets were designed and built by students during an online workshop with puppeteer Siân Kidd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set designer and TCDT Trustee Simon Costin brings the creativity of art installation to editorial and fashion shows alike. His clients have included Alexander McQueen, H&M, Valentino, Gucci, YSL and Faberge.

 

This display is the third window TCDT has created for Fortnum & Mason. Other TCDT collaborations with Fortnum & Mason include: a series of Employment Programme workshops, a special mural project in which students worked with renowned fresco painter Sarah Hocombe to create a permanent piece of art for the Piccadilly shop, and three upcoming Patisserie Skills workshops due to take place in 2024.

 

 

Read Fortnum & Mason’s article about the window display here.