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Friends and Special Supporters of the RSN

Why we need your support
Annual Friend and Life Friend
Special Supporters:
Wool Circle
Silk Circle
Gold Circle

Why we need your support
Founded in 1872, the Royal School of Needlework has a unique role: to train students to the highest technical standard of hand embroidery. No other organisation teaches these techniques of hand embroidery to this level.

Our Graduate Apprentices go on to work in a wide variety of roles from stitching and teaching in our Studio and classes to working on vestments in St Paul's Cathedral or costumes for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden or the BBC.

Keeping hand embroidery skills alive is vital. Without these skills we would not be able to conserve textiles, which are amongst the most fragile objects of our heritage.

RSN-taught embroiderers are also able to create the heirlooms of tomorrow - from altar frontals for Britain's cathedrals to dynamic private commissions for interior design.

The RSN owns an extensive Collection of 60,000 objects comprising both textiles and archival papers. The textiles include pieces created by the RSN workroom and examples of different techniques through history, while the archive helps to tell the story of the RSN.

These ojects are incredibly valuable to our Apprentices and students for teaching purposes. However, it costs a great deal to conserve and keep these objects.

Altogether it costs around £3,000 a day to run the RSN, yet we receive no government funding and have to rely on our own resources, especially donations.

The Friends and Special Supporters of the RSN make a vital contribution, supporting Aprpentices and our Collection. Without this funding we would not be able to continue our work.

By becoming a Friend or Special Supporter you can help us to continue our work.

Annual Friend and Life Friend
Membership Costs
UK Friend £30 per annum
International Friend £45 per annum
Life Friend (one-off payment) £600
Concessionary Life Friend (over 60, one-off payment) £450

Support from the Friends' over the last year has helped to:

Friends' Membership offers the following benefits:

Friends' annual subscriptions are renewable on the 1st January each year. To join the Friends please complet the application form (see link above). For annual membership payment by Direct Debit is the most effective method, as it saves administrative time and postage. Simply complete the Direct Debit form.

As a charity, the RSN can claim back gift aid on donations and subscriptions. This really helps us to increase the value of your gift. Please indicate on the form above if you are a UK tax payer and are happy for us to claim gift aid.

Special Supporters
For the first time the RSN introduces Special Supporters, three categories of support which are identified by some of the most important tools of our art: wool, silk and gold.

All Special Supporters' subscriptions are rewewable on the anniversary of the first payment. Payment for Special Supporters may be made in 10 monthly instalments, which will be taken on the 1st of each month.

Wool Circle £500 per annum
Wool is used for crewel work and embroidered tapestry. William Morris and Walter Crane were among those commissioned to create designs to be produced in wool work by the RSN, some of which were displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876, taking art needlework to the United States. In 2007 the RSN created a new canvas work hanging based on an original design for a customer in Europe.

Silk Circle £2,500 per annum
Silk has been used in embroidery for centuries, making its way across the Silk Route from China. It has been used in embroidery not only because it take colour well, but also for its sheen and ability to be used very finely. It is particularly beautiful when used in silk shading. Each year RSN Apprentices depict a flower in silk shading as the natural world provides wonderful examples of shading.

Gold Circle £5,000 per annum
Goldwork has always been reserved for the most special pieces, not least because the thread is weighed rather than measured. Gold thread comes in many different weights and thicknesses. The RSN has been responsible for the design and embroidery of coronation regalia for every British Monarch from Edward VII to our current Queen, our Patron. Her Majesty's train was worked in 18 varieties of gold thread by a team of 12 round the clock for three months. Today Apprentices continue traditional goldwork.