I  Overview

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  • Overview
• Notes From The Day
  • Opening Discussion
  • Second Discussion
  • Working Groups
• Presentations
  • Stephen Davis
  • Peter Lobban
  • HRH The Prince of Wales
  • David Lammy MP
• Actions
  • Cirencester College
  • Craft Skills
• Delegates
• Acknowledgements
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This report sets out the results of the seminar held on 12th September 2005 at Woodchester Mansion, attended by HRH The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Woodchester Mansion Trust, David Lammy MP, Minister for Culture, and 61 delegates representing stakeholders in the heritage craft skills and construction training fields across the UK.

The seminar’s purpose was to assess the next steps in the campaign to revive traditional skills training across Britain.

The delegates focussed on the skills needs analysis for the built heritage sector in England; “Traditional Building Craft Skills - Assessing the Need, Meeting the Challenge”, published in 2005 by the National Heritage Training Group. This report established that there is a nationwide shortage of skilled heritage crafts workers. The seminar therefore set out to ask what initiatives needed to be taken regionally and locally to address these shortages.

In discussion the group noted a number of challenges, including:

• The need to demonstrate that traditional craft skills are relevant to modern construction and wider social and economic agendas
• The structural reasons for craft skills shortages, including the organisation of the modern construction process, health and safety needs and procurement procedures
• The lack of training for individuals returning to the work place or potential students over the age of 19

A number of organisations, including The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, The Phoenix Trust, The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, The Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage are at the time of writing undertaking initiatives to address skills shortages. The seminar was an opportunity to share some of these ideas and strategies.

During the afternoon, breakout groups discussed topics that had emerged during the morning -

• What can be done to interest young people and career changers in craft skills?
• What should be done to address procurement problems?
• What training should be available regionally?
• How can heritage get out of its “ghetto” and make better connections with other areas of economic and cultural activity?
• How can clients and contractors better engage with trainers regionally?
• How might funding for training be obtained at a regional level?
• What does a good training partnership look like; who needs to be involved?

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