SPAB Fellow Daahir Mohamed awarded grant from Heritage Crafts

We’re delighted that plasterer and 2022 SPAB Fellow Daahir Mohamed has been awarded a generous grant from Heritage Crafts. The grant will help to support him during the Fellowship, our six-month training scheme for craftspeople.

The training bursary – one of many awards offered by Heritage Crafts – is targeted at Black and ethnically diverse makers, as this is an under-represented group in traditional crafts.

Daahir is a self-employed plasterer from Bristol. Originally from Somalia, he left for Switzerland at the age of nine. In Switzerland he trained as an apprentice in metal fabrication and tool making. This gave him a good grounding in precision, a passion for quality craftmanship and served as a steppingstone, once he’d moved to Bristol, first to general building work and onto specialise in plastering. Daahir has held roles on the boards of the Bristol Hospitality Network, Bristol Refugee Rights and has volunteered with the Bristol Bike Project and the Red Cross. He has also worked for the Asylum Seekers’ Allotment Project, teaching vegetable gardening and beekeeping skills.  

Daahir says: “I am honoured to be the first recipient of the Heritage Crafts' training bursary for black and ethnically diverse makers.  This support will help relieve the financial pressure of taking time away from my business to participate in the SPAB Fellowship. I think targeted bursaries like this one can play a big role in diversifying the conservation industry.”

Caption: Daahir Mohamed at a ceremony at the House of Lords with SPAB Fellowship officer Pip Sooden and Mary Lewis, Heritage Crafts. Credit: Heritage Crafts.

Heritage Crafts is the advocacy body for traditional heritage crafts. It provides a focus for craftspeople, groups, societies and guilds, as well as individuals who care about traditional craft skills, and works towards a healthy and sustainable framework for the future.

Members of the bursary judging panel were Jennifer Chen (Heritage Crafts Trustee), Jo Sealy (the Black Artisans project), weaver Rezia Wahid MBE and Lucy McCall (DCA Consultants). This bursary is sponsored by DCA Consulting.

Jennifer Chen, Jo Sealy and Rezia Wahid MBE. Credit: Heritage Crafts

The SPAB Fellowship was founded in 1987 to address the shortage of craft skills and to champion the importance of craftspeople. The programme allows Fellows to travel countrywide together and learn on site from specialists working in building conservation.

Find out more about the Fellowship. To learn more about their awards and bursaries, visit Heritage Craft’s website.