As Jean said, there comes a point when you have the equipment and thread
you need and don't really need any more...
I don't think you can gain any real idea of the actual number of
lacemakers based on Guild/Organisation membership - certainly one of the
major problems facing any national Guild is that people share their
magazines with others, thus removing the need for those people who, when
asked at events why they are not a member, say "our teacher brings the
magazine into class so we don't need to join" - thus for every member,
there may be anywhere from two to ten non-members! This of course
affects the members in that with less people subscribing, there are
fewer of them to bear the costs of the services they receive, so
subscriptions have to increase, and each time that happens, fewer renew
their membership.
There are then the problems (very evident at the moment for one lace
organisation) of not having willing volunteers to serve on committees -
this is widespread, and the committee I'm on needs six more people to be
elected next year to be able to work at full strength. (There is NO
danger of our closing, but a strong danger of committee members being
overworked if we don't gain some new blood!). You don't need to be an
expert, or even an expert lacemaker, to serve on a committee - it helps
to have input from all walks of lace-life!)
The biggest problem we all face is the lack of new lacemakers - in the
UK the governments over the last 30 years or so have cut the funding for
recreational classes - the "brilliant" idea of "lifelong learning"
brought with it a need for everyone to have a certificate at the end of
a course, and thus take exams with every course - which not everyone
wants to do. So, Adult Education classes have dropped, to the point
where, with the withdrawal of the City & Guilds courses in Lacemaking
(except for existing students, and the goal posts as to when that will
finish entirely keep being moved) means there are no recognised
qualifications to justify the classes being held. Many teachers have now
moved to running private classes, but this makes finding classes more
difficult for those who would have looked down the Adult Education
prospectus in their local newspaper, so they don't know where to look
for classes.
When lacemakers go out and demonstrate, they frequently do so in
needlecraft circles - and Organisation stands are taken at needlecraft
shows - they totally ignore the fact that many people are interested in
more than one range of activities - I have demonstrated with success at
papercraft shows because we are the "something very different" - to be
effective you need to be out where everyone can see, in shopping malls,
zoos, stately homes, as well as craft fairs - with full details of all
classes/groups meeting within the distance of which people are likely to
travel to the place where you are. This of course takes research - it is
no good handing out a teacher's name and address if they have or are
just about to give up classes, or their class is full with a long
waiting list. Data Protection laws also mean that you need permission to
give out the information.
Don't be misled into thinking that it is only worth getting young people
interested - many of the newly retired may have 30-40 years to take up a
new interest, and you are never too old to learn, and to pass your
skills on to your children and grandchildren. Gain a young person, and
they may lose interest due to other pressures on time and finances. Gain
an older person, and they may spread the interest throughout their
family!
If you are the teacher/group member who takes your magazine in to share
with others, consider what would happen if everyone did that - there
would be insufficient members to keep the organisation active - so only
show it once, explain the benefits you are gaining from your membership
and give them a form so that they can join too! If they use the patterns
in your magazine, remember both you and they are probably breaking
copyright law!
In message
<18852739.1318548487564.javamail.r...@mswamui-swiss.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
, [email protected] writes
If you check the membership numbers of IOLI, for example, the numbers
have gone down over the last 10 years. Significantly. There was a
point in the last century, (wow, doesn't that sound long ago?) when the
number of lace makers jumped, or at least rose strongly.
--
Jane Partridge
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