Cass graduates become beneficiaries of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers new scholarship fund.
Date: 15 February 2016
The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers has launched a new Royal Charter Scholarship Fund and has selected Oliver Goldie and Abigail Butler, postgraduate furniture students at The Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University as two of the first four beneficiaries of the new bursary.
Abigail Butler says: "I am very grateful to the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and to London Metropolitan University for all their support and will be far into the future. I hope that one day I will be in the position to support younger designers and furniture makers in the way that I have been supported."
The fund was set up in October 2015 to celebrate the livery company's Royal Charter status. Thanks to support from industry donors, more than £20,000 was raised last year, enabling the company to commit to supporting four scholarships a year.
The aim is to prepare promising graduates to become future leaders, craftspeople and innovators within the furnishing industry.
For Oliver Goldie, currently studying for his MA Furniture degree at The Cass, the bursary will enable him to buy the tools and materials needed to complete pieces to a professional standard and quality.
"I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity” says Oliver. “I feel I will hugely benefit from this bursary both in my learning through this course and later in my career, especially with the chance of being part of a mentoring scheme."
The scholarship candidates are identified through the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers extensive links with universities and academies across the UK, of which London Met is proud to be one. The other two recipients of the fund are James Batstone and Charles Richards, graduates of the Royal College of Art.
In addition to a monetary bursary, the scholars will enjoy membership of the Young Furniture Makers, automatic long listing for the annual Young Furniture Makers' exhibition, priority booking on the Young Professional Industry Experience scheme and dedicated career support and mentoring from a matched professional within the industry.
Above shows two designs, a bar made from old lockers, table legs and cans turned inside out to clad by Abigail Butler and a rocking chair, made by distorting waste delivery trays by Oliver Goldie.
