This year in particular eyes are on British tradition so it is a great time to celebrate craft from the past as well as the future. We have such a staggering wealth of art and craft heritage which is now inspiring talented people throughout the country to produce craft we should be proud of.

To touch, see or buy something handmade simply makes us happy. The smooth tactile quality of porcelain, the coolness of hand forged metal or the warmth of a turned wooden vessel - it's these objects that give us most pleasure whether we wear them, display them or use them around the home. It's the handcrafted pieces in my own home that give me the most pleasure.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen wishes you all the best for a fabulous event and says:
“There can be no further doubt - thanks to the credit crunch and the nation’s need to ‘nest’, craft is now the new Rock and Roll”

ICHF is thrilled to be supporting such a worthwhile campaign. There is tremendous synergy between ICHF's craft shows and Craft and Design Month with the goal of promoting “handmade and personal” as opposed to mass produced and commercial.

There is tremendous talent which is echoed throughout the marquees at the Weald of Kent Craft Show and I believe that Craft and Design Month is dedicated to those artist makers which have made this event such a resounding success.

I'm very sorry that I won't be able to attend the launch of Craft and Design Month on 20th April. The cause of this is indeed ironic as instead of lauding the Best in the New as I would have been, I will be appraising the Finest of the Old in my role as the Antique Roadshow's glass specialist at the Great Hall of Birmingham University: the first recording of the show's 34th series.

The irony is based on the fact that unless we nurture, support and celebrate modern British craft and design, there will be paucity of Antiques of Tomorrow for Roadshow specialists working on future series to delight upon.

The point is particularly pertinent today when most purchases intended to enhance domestic bliss are generic, globe-crushing and Made In China. High carbon, low soul.

As all right-minded observers, I applaud British craft and design and urge its practitioners towards greatness. Naturally, not everything produced today, even in Britain, is great. But with appropriate support, by the likes of Craft & Design as well as its patrons, the present and future of individual creative endeavour will remain loud, clear and pertinent.

I am delighted to be able to support Craft and Design, which brings together two of my greatest passions in such a vibrant and relevant way.

To me craft and design are natural complements, two essential elements that bring personality, lasting joy and individuality to my life and home.

Good design, which for me is about how well something works as much as how it looks, has always delighted me; however, it is craft, the artesian application of the language of materials and how to use them, that gives true life and manifests the beauty in function and form of any design

Craft & Design Month gives me the opportunity as a show organiser to host a special pavilion to promote the magnificent work of some the finest craftsmen and women we are lucky enough to have in this country.

Living Crafts is delighted to be promoting Craft & Design Month at their May events. The initiative will recognise the unique talents, skills and passion of designer-makers from across Great Britain and help bring crafts to the focus of public and media attention. It will highlight the huge contribution that craftsmen and women make to the heritage of this country and underline the fact that British crafts today are alive and flourishing.

Creative activity is an essential component of flourishing communities and productive economies. It's right that we celebrate the inspirational role of our craftsmen and women, both in shaping our environment and feeding the imagination of people of all ages and backgrounds.