UCF needs your help after our anvils were stolen

We're Richard and Lizzie from the Urban Crafts Foundation. We've been burgled and we're fundraising to replace our tools.

UPDATE: We really can't thank our supporters enough. You made the impossible possible and helped us raise £3000 in just twelve days. We've increased the goal to £3500 and we're going to keep the fundraiser open until 21 March ( a month from the day that we started it). If we can raise another £500 we'll use it to further security at the forge and do everything we can to prevent this from ever happening again.

UCF is a not-for-profit CIC based in Essex. We run a blacksmiths forge where we teach heritage metalworking. We're one of the only forges in the country happy to work with children. https://www.urbancraftsfoundation.co.uk/

On the morning of Sunday 19 February, we discovered our forge at Lambourne End Centre for Outdoor Education had been broken into. Thieves had taken three of our beautiful anvils, a brand-new welder and other tools. This is a devastating blow to us that will have a huge impact on the people we teach and the commissions we undertake that help us run subsidised classes for vulnerable children and adults.

It's particularly heart-wrenching as we've had a fantastic twelve months post-pandemic. Last year we welcomed two Artists in Residence to our forge who worked with adults with special needs at the annual London Harvest Festival where they made an amazing sculpture for Lambourne End. We also started working with Dan, a young adult dealing with mental health challenges. Dan is a tremendous help and is en route to being a brilliant young blacksmith who's going to keep our rare craft alive. Getting dirty in the forge, hammering, measuring and problem-solving helps Dan to make sense of the things that his learning difficulties got in the way of at school.

During the past three years over four hundred adults and children have passed through our doors at Lambourne End or visited our off-site mobile forge. They've picked up a hammer and with our guidance had their first experience of hammering hot steel. Over two hundred and fifty of those places were entirely free. With creative education disappearing from school curriculums, this is a life-changing moment for many children who no longer get the opportunity to experience the joy of making.

We are of course insured but it's clear that we won't be able to recoup all of our losses. If we can raise £3000 we'll be able to replace all of the stolen equipment quickly and continue with our education program. If we can raise any extra money we'd be able to double up on securing our forge. We know things are tight right now for everyone, but even a tiny donation would help so much.

If you can't spare any money, you can still help by following us on social media and sharing this campaign. We're a tiny organisation and even just raising awareness of what we do would mean a lot to us.

On Instagram, we're @ucf_crafts

On Twitter, we're also @ucf_crafts

On Facebook it's TheUrbanCraftsFoundation

Thanks so much,

Richard and Lizzie