Sara Crofts

Sara Crofts trained as an architect at Edinburgh College of Art where she specialised in historic building conservation. She then worked for a number of architectural practices dealing with the repair and conservation of historic buildings in both Edinburgh and Cumbria.

Having undertaken the Lethaby Scholarship awarded by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 2003, Sara Crofts worked as the SPAB’s Churches Caseworker for a spell before being appointed as the Project Director of the SPAB Faith in Maintenance project in 2006. The Faith in Maintenance training project ran for five years during which time she delivered 150 courses for Anglican, Methodist, United Reformed Church, Roman Catholic and Jewish groups and trained more than 5,000 volunteers throughout England and Wales.

Sara Crofts’ next role was Deputy Director of the SPAB and then, in 2015, she joined the Heritage Lottery Fund as Head of Historic Environment where her role focussed on policy and strategy development including training and skills.

She returned to the voluntary sector to take up the role of Chief Executive at Icon in January 2019. Her role includes oversight of Icon’s training and professional development activities as well as their accreditation framework.