Tonight it was an absolute pleasure to take part in the graduation ceremony and prizegiving for the Building Crafts College at Carpenters’ Hall. At this event, which takes place every year, the students graduating from their programmes of study are recognised and a number of special prizes donated by sponsors are presented to students.

The Master of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, Lord Flight of Worcester, welcomed all the guests and introduced the Guest of Honour, Mr John Makepeace OBE, an outstanding furniture designer and craftsman. The Chair of the Building Crafts College addressed the assembly after which the students were all presented with their awards individually by Mr John Makepeace.

I was particularly pleased to see the Tyler and Bricklayer sponsored prize being awarded to a brilliant bricklayer, Kate Longworth.

Following the excellent awards ceremony we all adjourned to the ante room for a lovely reception with wines and canapes where Chris Causer, the Chairman of our Crafts Committee and I met with Kate Longworth and her party. It was fascinating to hear her story of how she got involved in bricklaying and to feel her passion for the craft. She has a keen interest in heritage brickwork and we agreed to introduce Kate to our own Emma Simpson, Master Craftsman.

It was a delightful evening and I was most impressed to see all the dedicated and enthusiastic award winners.