The family and friends of Karen Finch OBE, who founded the original Textile Conservation Centre (TCC) in 1975, have created a website in her honour.

Karen, who was born in 1921 and died in 2018, was Principal of the TCC from 1975 to 1986. After her retirement she took an unfailing interest in the careers of those who graduated from the Centre during her time in charge, as well as in the work and progress of current students of the Centre.

Sadly, Karen was never able to visit the Centre’s successor, the Centre for Textile Conservation, at its new home as part of the University of Glasgow, but was delighted to hear all about the success of the Centre and its students. The Textile Conservation Foundation created an annual student prize in her honour, the Karen Finch Prize. The image below shows Karen with Geraldine Sim, who won the Karen Finch Prize in 2015 and who is now forging a successful career as a textile conservator in Singapore’s Heritage Conservation Centre.