Give Handmade this Christmas –Online with Manchester Craft & Design Centre

Sara Jaspan, Exhibitions Editor

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Give Handmade this Christmas

6 November-24 December 2020

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Ella McIntosh, Contemporary Pewter. Photo: Eden Photography
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Whilst companies like Amazon are seeing their profits exponentially soar as a result of the pandemic, our high streets and independent businesses are being decimated. Now more than ever is the time to keep your Christmas shopping as local and handmade as possible. Thankfully Manchester Craft & Design Centre has, as usual, come up trumps, making the whole thing not only that bit easier but also more special.

Give Handmade This Christmas with Manchester Craft and Design Centre Online
Amy Wilkinson

Serving as a virtual shop window, Give Handmade is an online space where you can browse the high-quality wares of the centre’s 30 or so resident makers and buy direct (making their Christmas too). Unique and unusual gift ideas include Amy Wilkinson’s Alan Turing inspired binary code jewellery, Jane Blease’s geometric wooden lampshades, and Cragg Jones Ceramics’ hand-built hanging planters. Even the classic winter scarf has new present-millage in the skilled hands of one of British fashion legend Mary Quant’s former designers, Susan Kane of fir + wren at Holm.

Jane Blease
Jane Blease

Many of the makers also accept bespoke commissions and will post orders accompanied by personalised messages. Plus, gift vouchers are available to assuage the pressures of buying for those more particular friends and relatives.

Christmas or not, during a time when many of us are feeling far away from the ones we love, sending something thoughtful through the post is one small way of saying you’re thinking about them. Give Handmade makes this easy whilst spreading the love that bit further. After all, if we want the city’s creatives and favourite institutions like MCDC to stick around, now is the time to show whatever support you can.

Nicky Darnborough

Where to go near Give Handmade this Christmas –Online with Manchester Craft & Design Centre

Manchester
Gallery
Black Redstart Gallery

Black Redstart Gallery is located in the Northern Quarter and runs a busy programme of exhibitions from emerging and established artists.

RJC Dance Xmas Show
Leeds
RJC Dance

RJC Dance, based in Chapeltown, Leeds, champions youth and education, leading inclusive Black dance in the North through national partnerships.

texture logo
Manchester
Gallery
texture mcr

Possibly one of the city’s most mysterious art galleries, texture is a small and perfectly-formed independent space in Ardwick.

The Beacon at Cliffe Castle Park
Bradford
Park
Cliffe Castle Park

Cliffe Castle Park hosts the Beacon, a stunning performance space that will be touring the district throughout Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

Hern Food
Leeds
Restaurant
Hern

This produce-driven bistro in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, prides itself on cooking with the only finest ingredients and his headed up by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rab Adams.

Indie Makers
Leeds
Shop
Indie Makers

Indie Makers, located in Leads’ corn exchange, trades in art and gifts from independent makers across the UK.

Plant Point
Leeds
Shop
Plant Point

Plant Point is designed to help you bring the jungle into your urban or suburban space. The home of beautiful plants in Leeds.

Leeds
Restaurant
Eat Your Greens

Eat Your Greens is a vibrant, organic restaurant bringing a hint of European flair to the city’s plant-based dining scene.

Sela opened in 2004 with an idea to provide quality imported beers from around the world, fun cocktails to compliment the beer selections and a stage for the region’s finest and most talented musicians to play on.Over ten years later, we’re still all about the beer, cocktails, live music and pizza!We carry over a selection of over thirty different beers spanning the globe from Pickering with The Great Yorkshire Brewery’s Yorkshire Blackout, to New York with a selection from Brooklyn Brewery, and Belgium with longtime Sela favourite, Vedett.Our cocktails change regularly too. Our best-sellers are joined by fun, new offerings and our pizza menu is regarded as one of the best the city of Leeds has to offer.As for the live music, Sela has had not only the great and the good from the region. Local funksters, The New Mastersounds are regular visitors and we stage the amazing Mojah Reggae Band for their weekly Wednesday residency.  Our other long running programming incl
Leeds
Restaurant
Sela Bar & Pizzeria

Sela Bar is a cosy Leeds basement spot with live music, great drinks, and a cool, laid-back, atmospheric vibe.

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