AAS Members came together in April 2025 at our Annual General Meeting to celebrate the achievements of the past year and plans for the coming one, including the award of multi-year funding from Creative Scotland.

There were updates on ongoing AAS projects and member-led activities including Culturality, Closing the Loop, Older Makers and the In Our Hands programme in Nepal, with ideas shared for how these will be developed and evolved.

One of the changes for the coming year is the enhanced operational support that the new funding will provide for AAS, specifically the ways this will help to transform the activities and support we are able to provide for AAS Members and the wider craft sector. We are an organisation “run by makers, for makers” and we are grateful to be able to enhance the range of paid opportunities for makers to apply their deeply-rooted knowledge towards supporting the craft sector in Scotland.

Carrie Fertig and Ciorstaidh Monk introduced plans for a rejuvenated Connecting Makers programme that will run across the coming year, which will offer opportunities for AAS Members to lead workshops and in-person events that support professional development, peer support, showcasing member activity, and network building. The programme draws on our thinking about the organisation as a garden as a framework for making sustainable practice, working through the seasons of making. This programme will launch in late May with a call to AAS Members to get involved.

AAS Chair Lynne Hocking also introduced plans for an exciting new fund that will be developed over the coming months to support Member-led activity – the details are still being worked through, with the intention to support AAS Members to develop activities that support the making community in Scotland.

Members were also invited to think about other ways that the structures of AAS could support additional member-led groups and activities, and were encouraged to discuss ideas with board members.

The newly elected AAS Board was welcomed by Lynne Hocking, who will continue as Chair for the coming year: Clare Waddle (Vice Chair), Netty Sopata (Treasurer), Carrie Fertig (Membership Secretary), Mariam Syed, Thomas Wren and newest recruit, Fiona McGarva. There are still three spots on the board for AAS Members interested to get more involved with running the organisation at this exciting time – more information on what it means to be a board member can be found here. Huge thanks to our outgoing board members, Stefanie Cheong and Garvin Sealey.