Making Surrey is a county-wide project which looks to craft as a way of empowering local people to make decisions about, and respond to, their local environment. It has been awarded funding by the Arts Partnership Surrey and Arts Council England and will be project managed by Farnham Maltings and Tandridge Trust Ltd. 

Making Surrey seeks to expel the myth that work which is community-led cannot be of the highest quality. Professional craft-makers will take up residency in communities across the county to deliver a high quality programme of craft-related activity. They will use their work to embed craft into the key questions and debates concerning local communities in Spelthorne (Ashford Common/Ashford East Ward); Waverley (Sandy Hill, Farnham Upper Hale Ward); Guildford (Stoughton);Mole Valley (Leatherhead Common); Woking (Maybury Ward);  Runnymede (Englefield Green); Tandridge (Hurst Green) and Elmbridge (Ambleside and Walton North).

 

The residencies will also be used as an opportunity to run three apprenticeships aimed at makers who wish to specialise in community engagement work. This is a direct response to an identified need to build expertise within the county at delivering community arts practice and the lead craft-makers will act as mentors.