The historic Birmingham Assay Office has joined forces with mac in a partnership to support the refurbishment of the arts centre’s Jewellery Studio.

The partnership, worth £15,000, forms part of The Birmingham Assay Office’s commitment to supporting jewellery-makers in the city and comes as mac is undertaking the £14.8 million building project which will dramatically improve facilities on the Cannon Hill site.

With the support of The Birmingham Assay Office, mac will be able to update the facilities and environment in its popular Jewellery Studio, including installing ventilation systems for the first time and improving the space by repairing the original quarry-tile floor, repainting walls and ceilings and refurbishing existing tools and machinery.

It will be named ‘The Birmingham Assay Office Jewellery Studio’ and offer established and emerging jewellery-makers a much-needed facility to develop their craft.

In 2009, The Birmingham Assay Office commemorates the bi-centenary of the death of Matthew Boulton. He founded the Office in 1773, when silversmithing first started to boom in the city. It has grown to be the world’s largest Assay Office, and applies hallmarks to approximately 10 million metal articles each year.

mac has offered classes in jewellery-making for several decades and its facilities have been used regularly by established designer-makers, emerging jewellers, adults attending classes, young people through the formal education system and children and families through school holiday and weekend classes.

Dorothy Wilson, mac’s building project champion, said of the new partnership: “We would like to offer our thanks and appreciation to The Birmingham Assay Office for their support to mac’s Building Project. Through this partnership, we are now able to dramatically improve our facilities for jewellery designers and makers, which will support the development of talent in the region.

Kay Alexander, Chairman of The Birmingham Assay Office said: “Birmingham has a long history of jewellery manufacture and silversmithing and The Assay Office fully supports the need to retain the skills and expertise to sustain this. mac has provided a vital training ground during the last 30 years and it is important that this continues.”

mac’s fundraising appeal has been extremely well received, with only £440,000 left to raise from the appeal target of £1.9million. Anyone wishing to donate to the building project can do so at www.macarts.co.uk