Create and Craft share their research study…

Create and Craft are excited to share their research study, commissioned to understand how Brits have become a nation of hobbyists taking up new pastimes during the last year. Often these hobbies are something more associated with their grandparent’s generation than their own, such as knitting, model-making or making jams and preserves.

Ambassador for Create and Craft, Keith Lemon, has been on hand for a series of radio interviews where he talks about the research findings, his own experience discovering more traditional crafts during lockdown and his upcoming appearances on Create & Craft’s YouTube channel as season two of Keith Lemon’s Crafty Doings is due to air in June. These interviews are being broadcast throughout the week on national stations including talkRADIO, The Hits Radio, and Times Radio.

OLD FASHIONED PASTIMES LIKE NEEDLEWORK, STAMP COLLECTING, BIRDWATCHING AND FLOWER ARRANGING ARE BACK, AS 6 IN 10 MODERN BRITS HAVE TAKEN UP A TRADITIONAL HOBBY OVER THE PAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH BY CREATE AND CRAFT

A new nationwide study has found that six in ten (60 percent) Brits aged 16 to 29 have taken up a traditional hobby in the last year, with 58 percent claiming that doing so has helped them feel grounded and comforted.

Overall 41 percent of the nation have started a new hobby, with needlework (19 percent), birdwatching (14 percent) and flower arranging (11 percent) all making a comeback, according to the poll.

One in 10 (10 percent) of us have started making our own jams and preserves, 10 percent have got into origami – and eight percent are turning back the clocks by brewing beer from home.

We’ve also started growing our own veg (33 percent), knitting (20 percent) flower arranging (11 percent), upcycling furniture (seven percent), and fishing (seven percent).

And one in twenty (five percent) Brits has even taken up philately – the art of collecting stamps.

Winemaking (seven percent), hiking (12 percent), jewellery making (7 percent), and collecting vinyl (6 percent) have all also made a comeback, according to the data.

The study by Create and Craft also found that 60 percent of the nation agree there’s been a surge of interest in old fashioned hobbies, with 59 percent claiming these activities are a great way to relax and unwind at home.

In fact, 37 percent of the 1500 Brits polled say it’s become COOL to have an old-fashioned hobby, while almost a third (32 percent) even describe having a traditional hobby as HIPSTER.

According to the data, the young are leading the way, with the perfect age to get into a traditional hobby found to be 24.

Almost three quarters (72 percent) of the under thirties polled said they’d rather spend a weekday evening doing their favourite hobby than on a zoom call with friends.

And traditional ideas about which gender should do which hobby no longer apply, as 45 percent of the nation claiming that hobbies seen as ‘female’ – such as knitting, jam making or sewing are now viewed as cool for men.

The study also found that 54 percent of Britons say home hobbies offer a welcome retreat away from screens and technology, while half (50 percent) say they are a great distraction to life’s everyday stresses.

Keith Lemon, Create and Craft Brand Ambassador said: “I’ve made a lot a fings during lockdown, my office is starting to look like Jim Henson’s workshop. Apparently it’s inspired people to make stuff too, which is nice. I’m told that six out of ten people are now also making things. We’ve all become very crafty apparently. Which is nice I fink. Don’t get me wrong I love having a day of doing nowt but I like the feeling of going to made that I’ve done somet productive, and made somefing. That’s very sensible of me in it. It’s very relaxing ya know.”

55 percent of Brits polled said they’ve taken up a traditional hobby because they’ve realised there’s more to life than screens, while 31 percent cite the rise of social media trends like “cottage core” – an internet based fashion and lifestyle aesthetic which idealises country living – as a major contributing factor.

The study also found that the average Brit currently has three traditional home hobbies, ranging from baking to knitting and gardening.

Meanwhile 53 percent say home hobbies like gardening and baking are definitely here to stay, while 44 percent claim they will continue with their hobbying even after all restrictions are lifted.

THE TOP TRADITIONAL HOBBIES THAT HAVE SEEN A COMEBACK, ACCORDING TO BRITS

• 33% – Gardening
• 23% – Painting
• 22% – Baking my own bread
• 21% – Growing herbs and vegetables
• 20% – Knitting
• 19% – Needlework
• 14% – Birdwatching
• 12% – Hiking
• 11% – Flower arranging
• 10% – Making jam and preserves
• 10% – Origami
• 9% – Sketching
• 8% – Brewing beer
• 7% – Woodwork
• 7% – Upcycling furniture
• 7% – Jewellery making
• 7% – Fishing
• 6% – Making wine
• 6% – Doing embroidery
• 6% – Collecting vinyl
• 6% – Trainspotting
• 6% – Making my own clothes
• 5% – Learning to make pasta from scratch
• 5% – Collecting stamps (philately)
• 5% – Joining a book club
• 4% – Flower pressing
• 4% – Making my own cushions
• 4% – Wild swimming
• 3%- Growing a sourdough starter
• 2% – Making a patchwork quilt

SAMANTHA JEFFRIES 13 MAY 2021