20 C O N T E X T 1 3 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 3 S C Annual School nual School 2012 chool 2013 IHBC An 011 IHBC Annual IHBC Annual School School 2013 IHBC IHBC Annual Scho Resources for skills Nick Randell, programme manager for Skills for the Future and training bursaries at the Heritage Lottery Fund, gave a funder’s perspective on targeting resources towards skills training within the heritage sector. He explained that training and skills had been embedded in the Heritage Lottery Fund’s new strategic framework for 2013–16 and into the outcomes that applicants were now required to deliver. In addition to the specific skills schemes, the HLF intends to embed training within all of its targeted programmes. This work will help to fill identified gaps in skills training and build capacity within the heritage sector. Randell highlighted some of the successful projects that had been delivered since the Skills for the Future scheme opened in 2009. A video of trainees learning the practical skills of mill-wrighting with the Broads Authority in Norfolk was probably the most valuable part of the presentation. It demonstrated how the resources provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the expertise of local professionals had created new craftsmen who will work on the heritage assets of the area for some years to come. It showed that while there was clearly value in these training schemes in terms of conservation, they also had an economic impact, as trainees often went on to set up their own businesses in their specialist areas. Randell gave advice to organisations that might be thinking of taking on trainees, stressing the importance of preparation, planning and continuing support. He encouraged host organisations not to ‘reinvent the wheel regarding accreditation and to use existing qualifications unless there is a significant gap in provision’, and to build partnerships. Perhaps the key messages were to share our success stories to demonstrate what can be achieved, and to campaign for skills training when we know that a gap will impact on the conservation of heritage assets. Liz Bates Skills development for a low-carbon world Rory Cullen, head of building at the National Trust, presented a perspective on green skills from the trust, whose 300,000 historic buildings make its approach highly important – in educating tenants as well as acting as owner. The trust is in a strong position to act as a research pioneer. It was telling, though, that the refurbishment of the West Oxfordshire villages of Buscot and Coleshill, implementing the trust’s ‘bronze standards’ (quick, Lee Knibbs, a Skills for the Future trainee. (Photo: Kippa Matthews, Heritage Lottery Fund
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