traditional skills bursaries available
The Heritage Lottery Fund is providing funding to a partnership of English Heritage, The National Trust, Cadw, CITB-ConstructionSkills and the National Heritage Training Group to establish and deliver £1 million Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme. England’s historic buildings are under threat from a shortage of skilled craftspeople, according to the first major piece of research i(pdf 5mb) into the labour and skills situation in the built heritage sector, published recently by the National Heritage Training Group.
The aims of the scheme are to address some of the currently recognised skills shortages and gaps within the traditional crafts and built heritage sector; to build diversity in the workforce; and to encourage applications from people who are currently under represented in the workforce through the provision of bursary places throughout England and Wales.
Funding will be available to help craftspeople, trainees and career changers qualified to NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) and above gain valuable work-based training, develop existing skills or improve their knowledge and experience of conservation and repair of historic buildings, structures or sites. Eligible trades include blacksmithing, roofing and thatching.
Placements will be offered at a range of public and private providers and will include specific heritage sites and / or workshops. Bursary holders will be supervised by experienced craftspeople and training received under the scheme will not replace training which can be gained at a college.
The bursary scheme is due to start later this year and will run until 2010. The scheme will fund approximately 80 variable length work-placements of between 1 month and 2 years.
The first placements are expected to be available by autumn 2006. An information pack and application form are currently being developed and will be available shortly. If you would like to receive them please e-mail your name and address only to hlfbuildingskillsbursaries@english-heritage.org.uk.
Backed by ConstructionSkills and English Heritage, the research found that in England over 86,000 people currently work within the built heritage sector, preserving some 4.41million historic dwellings and 550,000 historic commercial buildings (including 484,641 listed buildings). However, with nearly a quarter of contractors having outstanding vacancies and the workload ever increasing, the industry needs to recruit an additional 6,500 people in the next 12 months just to meet immediate demand.
Skills needed
In order to meet the current demand for the conservation and restoration of historic buildings – on which £3.5 billion is spent every year – the built heritage sector needs to recruit over 500 speciality bricklayers, carpenters and slate and tile roofers; 400 joiners, lead workers and stonemasons; and 300 painters & decorators and thatchers over the next year.
For further information about the National Heritage Training Group, visit www.nhtg.org.uk . For further information about ConstructionSkills, visit www.constructionskills.net .
