Governance, Staffing & Management
SDC has always been an organisation run by members, for members. Trustees sit together as ‘Council’ and function in a strategic and operational capacity. In 2025 Council had eight members (also formal trustees of the charity), held 8 Council meetings, two full Away Days and an AGM. The work of the Council is divided into subjects, each led by a trustee and sometimes supported by subcommittees. These are; Exhibitions; Property; Programme & Partnerships; Strategy & Comms; Membership; and IT systems. The day to day running of the organisation was led by the Society’s Administrator, Pat Tempest.
Steve Wager ended a long term as Council member at the AGM in 2025, and a new non-member trustee, Catrin Wright was appointed. All other existing Council members stood for election at the AGM and were re-elected.
Volunteers
The Society is supported by members who give freely of their time in order that the work and projects of the Society can be carried out efficiently and cost effectively. The amount of voluntary time collectively given to the SDC from its Council, sub-working group members, exhibitions volunteers and other volunteers across the year is estimated to be in excess of 10,000 hours.
Ambassadors
In 2025 the SDC appointed three members to act as SDC Ambassadors. These were new roles designed to modernise the old Membership Secretary role which had largely been subsumed by the Administrator. The Ambassadors role is to help promote the organisation at events and encourage new makers to join.
Special Advisory Group
To further enhance skills available to Council, a Special Advisory Group has been created. This group has volunteers from outside the Society who assist from time to time with specialist knowledge and has proved a great support to the Society. Serving with the group at present are:
Matt Knivett – Property
Saryu Vatal - Sustainability
Adam Cornish - Architecture
Sarah Monk – Commercial Events
Caroline Taylor – Marketing
Chris Spencer - Brand
Recruitment and appointment of new Trustees
The Charity reviews its recruitment and appointment of Trustees on an annual basis. After a skills audit was conducted in 2024, the charity has begun to seek, where appropriate, new Council members from outside the membership to help with specific skills not being offered from within the membership. The Society is keen to retain a maker-member majority on Council so has done considerable work to boost its sub-committees. This should allow members to be more active and be better positioned to serve on Council in the future.
Organisational structure
The Society consists of different tiers of membership as follows:
Fellow & Honorary Fellow: Any Member distinguished for services in connection with the crafts may be awarded Fellowship at the discretion of Fellows on Council. Honorary Fellowship is distinguished by special and outstanding service to the Craft sector and/or to the SDC.
Full Membership: Membership is open to individuals personally involved in the design, control, and production of finely crafted works. Members are usually established designer makers with several years' experience.
Licentiate Membership: Licentiateship is seen as a period of transition for the new designer maker between leaving University or College and becoming established. Their work will exhibit a high level of competence and show future creative potential.
Associate Membership: Associate members are designer makers who are not actively producing work, or any other persons who are interested in the aims and objectives of the charity and who wish to apply for membership.
Friend: Becoming a Friend is open to all those with a keen interest in the fields of design and fine craftsmanship. No selection process is involved.
There is a President of the society (currently Sir Christopher Frayling). 2025 saw an active campaign to recruit a new President who would be a good fit with the immediate strategic objectives.
Generally, no Council member shall serve for more than six consecutive years. However, if it is considered to be in the best interests of the Society, a Council member(s) who has/have a specific role within the SDC Council may serve for more than six consecutive years. The maximum term for any Trustee is 9 years unless there are extenuating circumstances. The Council Chair may serve for a period of three years; however, if it is considered to be in the interests of the Society, the Chair may be nominated for re-election. In recruiting new Trustees to Council, we consider recommendations from other Trustees and the membership but aim to seek experience relevant to the needs of the organisation.
Wider network
The Society is a member of Craft UK (Crafts Council) and a partner with ACID. It has relationships with a number of craft and design focussed bodies as outlined in previous sections.