Chantal Balmer from Glasgow has been announced as the recipient of a £1,000 grant from Honda ‘Made in Britain’ initiative, for her continued development of commercial textiles and weave.

The Swindon-based car builder Honda created the Made in Britain campaign to find the nation’s best makers and designers, builders, innovators and techno-gurus. 

Over 1,200 entries were shortlisted to nine finalists by key figures within UK’s style and craft industry, including Teleri Lloyd-Jones, Assistant Editor of Crafts magazine, Adrian Clark, Editor of Shortlist Mode Magazine and Alexandra Fullerton, Fashion Director of Stylist Magazine.

On winning the award, Chantal said: “'I'm still in shock that I actually won, I feel overwhelmed that my work has been held with such high regard and gives me a sense of appreciation for all the years of dedication and hard work to pursue my passion. Winning helps me to continue to my passion for weave both from an experimental and commercial point of view. The ‘Made in Britain’ campaign goes to prove creative talent in the UK is abundant.”

Honda ‘Made in Britain’ is a celebration of Britain, buzzing with doers, makers, builders, bakers – creators of all kinds. On the Facebook page www.facebook.com/hondamadeinbritain, British creative and design talents have been encouraged to share skills and boost their success with the £1,000 grant.

“Britain is crammed with people making brilliant things, and we should be shouting that from the rooftops, Chantal is an exceptional example of the designers and makers we are unearthing from all over Britain,” says Steve Kirk, Communications Manager at Honda (UK). “We employ over 3,000 incredibly-skilled engineers at the Honda plant in Swindon, and every year they build more than 140,000 of the most innovative and reliable cars on the road. This campaign is about celebrating their expertise, and the making talents of the nation. Congratulations to our winner Chantal.”

Honda’s Made in Britain initiative supports crafts people and designers with a grant towards their work. The competition runs monthly, in order to help more designers, and Honda are offering a prize of £100 per month run on www.facebook.com/hondamadeinbritain