Troubled built heritage sector honours much-needed fresh blood

Yesterday the historically iconic Tower of London, built in part by William the Conqueror, played host to an awards ceremony to honour the built heritage sector's newest recruits whilst acknowledging the contribution of some of the most accomplished in the sector.

Detailed analysis earlier this year by the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG), backed by ConstructionSkills and English Heritage, revealed that the shortage of craftspeople in this sector has reduced by 3,000 since 2005, but of the 109,000 people employed on pre 1919 buildings in 2007, only around 33,000 were equipped with the requisite level of skills to work with traditional building materials, putting our built heritage at risk.

The awards ceremony on Tuesday 9th December recognised the 23 craftspeople from around the UK who have benefited from the ongoing £1.2m year-long Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme designed to help address the high skills needs in the heritage sector. The scheme is largely funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (£900,000) and is being run in partnership with ConstructionSkills, the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG), English Heritage, The National Trust and Cadw.

The Bursary students heard speeches from Bill Martin, Conservation Director, English Heritage and were presented with certificates by Dr Jo Reilly, Head of Participation and Learning at the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Bursary scheme assists both craftspeople with transferable skills and knowledge already working in the main construction industry, and career changers who are seeking to obtain particular traditional building skills or experience in the heritage sector by funding and facilitating training placements with contractors and organisations. The main skills that the bursaries are aimed at include brickwork, carpentry and joinery, fibrous plaster, lime plaster, stone masonry and conservation, leadwork, traditional roofing, painting and decoration, earth building and blacksmithing.

In addition the event at the Tower also sought to recognise the contributions of those already working in the sector with Bob Turner and George Terry both receiving the prestigious Marsh Award, for an outstanding contribution to their craft and an outstanding contribution to training respectively, presented on behalf of The Marsh Christian Trust in conjunction with ConstructionSkills and English Heritage. The award celebrates the achievements of an individual craftsperson and trainer for outstanding work within the UK Built Heritage sector.

The Bursary represents one of a number of measures that the National Heritage Training Group supports to ensure the future of our traditional building stock. In association with its partners the NHTG will be investing £1 million to help reduce the skills gap, to be spent on initiatives including:

• Raising awareness of the built heritage sector and career opportunities through information and advice leaflets and brochures, plus a website and dedicated phone line, taster days and careers workshops

• Encouraging up-take of qualifications such as the Heritage Skills NVQ Level 3 and a Heritage Apprenticeship Programme

• Supporting Regional Heritage Skills Action Groups – providing training and skills development to meet regional demand and need

• A mentoring programme, with experienced craftspeople passing on skills and knowledge to less experienced practitioners

• Expanding the number of National Heritage Training Academies

Seamus Hanna, Heritage & Conservation Manager at ConstructionSkills said: “The Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme has received glowing reports from industry professionals, specialist workers and the trainees themselves, and has proved itself an excellent scheme offering practical training opportunities to those wanting to work in traditional building skills. This scheme aims to ensure that more people are taking up these traditional building crafts that are so important to preserving the country’s heritage buildings.”

 Seamus continued: “The awards ceremony was a great way to honour the way that the trainees have embraced the opportunities open to them and recognise the indispensable support provided by the businesses and individuals that have been involved and the wider built heritage sector.”

 Reflecting on the Traditional Skills Bursary Scheme, Lestyn Griffiths gained a 6 month placement at A.F. Jones Ltd, developing his skills on a variety of stone types, as well as undertaking formal short courses in calligraphy. He said: “Working in the built heritage sector is a great occupation but not enough people realise that there are opportunities out there for them. The Bursary scheme has helped me develop my skills so I can help preserve our fantastic built heritage.”

 Clara Willett, Bursary Scheme Manager comments: “We are keen to work with employers who want to host placements and to hear from those keen to develop their skills in order to work in the heritage sector. This Scheme will benefit businesses, individuals and the wider built heritage sector.”

The Bursary Scheme is open to business of all sizes and to help craftspeople, trainees and career changers work towards gaining NVQ3 (or equivalent) in relevant heritage skills.  

New placements are available regularly and individuals can sign up to the Scheme’s e-newsletter to keep them informed of these and general progress. More information is available from the scheme’s website www.buildingbursaries.org.uk.

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For more press information please contact Andrew Mabey at andrew.mabey@cskills.org or call 0300 456 5407

For more information about the Bursary Scheme please contact Clara Willett, Bursary Scheme Manager on 01442 890756 or enquiries@building bursaries.org.uk

Notes to editors

Photo caption: Lestyn Griffiths practises his stone carving.

 More photography of the HLF Bursary students is available on request

About the built heritage sector

Pre-919 building stock forms a significant part of the built environment, representing 20% of the total building stock in England and Scotland and one-third in Wales, and in terms of sustainability it is imperative that these are appropriately maintained and repaired. Repair and maintenance on pre-1919 buildings is worth an estimated £5.2billion every year in England, Scotland and Wales, so it is a vital part of mainstream construction.

HLF enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation's heritage for everyone to enjoy. They have supported more than 26,000 projects, allocating £3.8billion across the UK. Website: www.hlf.org.uk. 

The National Heritage Training Group (NHTG) is an independent specialist sector skills development group with a UK-wide remit to provide assistance with all aspects of recruiting, training, and qualifying the built heritage sector workforce of the construction industry. This is achieved by working in partnership with clients, heritage bodies, contractors, Trade Federations, Trades Unions and FE and private training providers to develop flexible training and skills development to ensure we have sufficiently skilled craftspeople to work on our UK historic building stock.

ConstructionSkills is the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry. It is UK-wide and represents the whole industry from professional consultancies to major contractors and SMEs. Established as a Sector Skills Council in 2003, ConstructionSkills is working to deliver a safe, professional and fully qualified construction workforce.

The construction sector is central to the UK economy, generating almost 9% of UK GDP and with a turnover of more than £203bn a year. It employs 2.5 million people and requires over 40,000 new entrants per year to 2012, as forecast by our Construction Skills Network.

English Heritage  is a public body with responsibility for all aspects of protecting and promoting the historic environment. Officially known as the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, English Heritage is an Executive Non-departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Our powers and responsibilities are set out in the National Heritage Act (1983) and today we act as the government's advisor on the historic environment, we work with the office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Departments for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for Trade and Industry. English Heritage is funded in part by the Government and in part from revenue earned from our historic properties and other services. For further information, please contact Renee Fok, Press Office on tel: 020 7973 3297.

The National Trust is Europe's biggest conservation organisation and looks after special places across England, Wales and Northern Ireland for ever, for everyone. People and places are at the heart of everything it does. Over 3.5 million members, 50, 000 volunteers, 500,000 schoolchildren, and millions of visitors, donors and supporters help the Trust look after its 300 historic houses and gardens, 700 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of open countryside.

Cadw is the Welsh Historic Monuments is the organization that has the responsibility for protecting, conserving and presenting ancient monuments and historic buildings in Wales. The name Cadw comes from the Welsh word that means "to keep" or "to preserve". It cares for over 100 ancient monuments and historic buildings of national importance, which are open to the public. For more information visit www.cadw.wales.gov.uk.