Craft & Hobby Association Announces Formation of CHA-UK
The Craft & Hobby Association has announced the formation of an affiliate in the United Kingdom called CHA-UK. The new association will be independently funded and governed from its American affiliate, and will operate as a not-for-profit organization.
This isn't CHA's first international partnership. CHA already has a Canadian affiliate called the Canadian Craft & Hobby Association (CCHA), which also operates as an independent non-profit organization.
CHA-UK's Board of Directors met in Manchester on May 18th to elect their first slate of officers. The Board consists of:
Colin Poole, Creative Expressions Ltd
Alastair McMinn, Coats Crafts
Barry Short, Creatively Inspired
Jane Gregory, Addicted 2 Craft
Tony Sheridan, Create & Craft TV
Catriona Marshall, Hobbycraft
Derek Bamford, Cutting Edge Craft, Grafton Projects Ltd
Mark Hill, The Thomas Kinkade Company LLC
Sara Davies, Crafter’s Companion Ltd
Stephanie Burnham, The Bead Scene
Anna Davenport, Immediate Media Co.
Carolyn Schulz, Creative Solutions Ltd
Terry Bowles, Design Objectives Ltd
Kathy Walsh, Personal Impressions
Stephanie Weightman, Art and Craft Direct Ltd
Andrej Suskavcevic, Craft & Hobby Association
Sara Davies and Mark Hill are also Board members of the Craft & Hobby Association, and Andrej Suskavcevic is the association's CEO.
From that May 18th meeting, the CHA-UK Board of Directors elected the following officers to lead the new organization:
Chair: Sara Davies, Crafter's Companion Ltd
Vice Chair: Carolyn Schulz, Creative Solutions Ltd
Secretary/Treasurer: Derek Bamford, Cutting Edge Craft, Grafton Projects Ltd
CHA-UK's mission will be similar to its U.S. affiliate: to promote and grow the craft industry and provide support for craft businesses.
“The UK is at a crossroads”, explained Sara Davies, newly elected CHA-UK Board Chair. “We need to come together to collaborate in order to expand the craft industry in the UK by leveraging shared experience and pooling of resources to harness the collective power of an entire industry rather than individual craft businesses.”
One of CHA-UK's first actions as an organization was to affiliate itself with BATF (British Allied Trades Federation), which will bring CHA-UK members a whole host of benefits, including access to discounts on credit card merchant processing rates, healthcare, mailing & shipping, healthcare, travel, insurance, and web design & hosting services.
CHA-UK membership starts at £100 per year for Buyer members and £200 per year for Supplier members, depending on a company's annual revenues.
