The Art and Craft Guild of Lancashire began life in 1986 under the auspices of The West Lancashire Enterprise Trust and was called The Craft Guild of West Lancashire. In September 1987 it held its first event at Briars Hall Hotel in Lathom with 20 members exhibiting. By 1988 there were 23 members and a programme of six events.

The West Lancashire Enterprise Trust sponsored the Guild by providing secretarial services, business advice and planning, but more importantly the Directors had faith in the Guild and its members. The Trust was initially located in the Malt House in Ormskirk, then it moved to the Old Stables in Burscough before being subsumed into Business Link.

After many years of support by the Trust and then Business Link, the Guild had to stand on its own feet and move
forward. With a membership of 30 from both inside and outside West Lancashire and increasingly further afield a new
secretary was found, an ex founder member, and it soon became obvious that the Guild could only function if the work was shared between members. After much debate a plan was put forward to run the Guild as a cooperative with every member contributing. This regeneration helped the Guild move forward and membership increased. Now an Executive committee coordinates the work of several specialised sub committees and reports back to the membership.

In 2005, to reflect the geographically wider membership and exhibiting area the name was changed to The Art and Craft Guild of Lancashire. The Guild has now “come of age” and like all growing and maturing things needs to look forward to its future development. Will we sell on the internet? (Many members do already). Expand into Europe? (The Guild has already had a twinning exhibition in Germany in 1990). One thing is certain, the ideals laid down by our founders of handmade, high quality, exclusivity, individuality and professionalism will always continue to be of utmost importance.