The Folk Union grew out of several years of working within what I saw as a new folk revival movement. This revival takes many forms. It includes musicians returning to traditional songs, artists and designers drawing on folk imagery, community groups reviving customs, and, increasingly, commercial brands adopting folk symbols as part of their visual language.

This resurgence is not, in itself, a problem. In fact, it’s amazing and I am very lucky to be a part of it. Folk culture has always shifted and reappeared in new forms. But it does raise questions about how folk is used, who benefits from its visibility, and what happens to the communities and traditions that come under sustained attention.

The Folk Union exists as a way of thinking collectively about the movement that’s taking place now. Rather than simply looking ever more closely at folk culture itself, it asks us to look at the movement we are part of and the responsibilities that come with it. It offers a shared standard for projects that want to work with folk culture carefully, ethically and in solidarity with others.

The Union is not a membership organisation in the traditional sense. It doesn’t require meetings or dues or formal structures. It works more like a cooperative standard. Projects that agree with its principles can sign the Charter and carry the Folk Union mark. The mark is a simple signal of shared values, and a way for like-minded projects to recognise one another and feel connected as part of a wider cultural movement.

There is a crisis taking place now and we, the folk, need to work together to fight for it.