Hundreds of new work-based training placements are to be funded through a £13.6m investment by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) into its Skills for the Future and training bursaries programmes.
The money will deliver a total of 788 new placements for people looking to start a career in heritage. Fifty one projects will benefit, including 43 existing Skills for the Future recipients.
Jenny Abramsky, chairwoman of the HLF, said: “This extra money expands our tailored skills programmes at a time when demand for training opportunities is extraordinarily high.”
Training bursaries and Skills for the Future are on course to deliver 2,200 training places by 2015.
“This is good news for the heritage sector which a decade ago feared that many key skills would be lost,” Abramsky said.
The HLF has awarded £4m additional funding to eight training bursaries projects, including £968,800 to the Institute of Conservation’s New Routes into Conservation scheme.
Skills for the Future projects given additional funding include Lincolnshire County Council’s Building on the Past in Lincoln, awarded £225,000 for its work focusing on skills such as stone-masonry, heritage brickwork and stained-glass conservation.
Seven additional trainees will receive at work training at a new skills centre in Lincoln Castle, itself a recent recipient of a £12m HLF major grant.
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums has been awarded £498,600 to fund 24 placements through its Heritage Engineering Skills programme.
And the Whitechapel Gallery in London has received £134,900 to train six young people in cultural heritage skills.
Other successful museums and galleries awarded additional Skills for the Future funding include Tate, the British Museum, and the National Maritime Museum in London; the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford; Chiltern Open Air Museum; Museums Galleries Scotland; National Museum Wales; and Ipswich Museum Service.
John Hayes, the minister of state for further education, skills and lifelong learning, said: “Britain's heritage forms a fundamental part of our society and economy; it underpins the very fabric of this country and is envied the world over. It is vital that we make every effort to preserve it and the incredible variety of skills it takes to maintain our heritage sites.”
The Skills for the Future and Training Bursaries programmes are now closed to new applications but new training placements will be created until 2015. The HLF said it is planning a new open skills programme later this year following public consultation.
The money will deliver a total of 788 new placements for people looking to start a career in heritage. Fifty one projects will benefit, including 43 existing Skills for the Future recipients.
Jenny Abramsky, chairwoman of the HLF, said: “This extra money expands our tailored skills programmes at a time when demand for training opportunities is extraordinarily high.”
Training bursaries and Skills for the Future are on course to deliver 2,200 training places by 2015.
“This is good news for the heritage sector which a decade ago feared that many key skills would be lost,” Abramsky said.
The HLF has awarded £4m additional funding to eight training bursaries projects, including £968,800 to the Institute of Conservation’s New Routes into Conservation scheme.
Skills for the Future projects given additional funding include Lincolnshire County Council’s Building on the Past in Lincoln, awarded £225,000 for its work focusing on skills such as stone-masonry, heritage brickwork and stained-glass conservation.
Seven additional trainees will receive at work training at a new skills centre in Lincoln Castle, itself a recent recipient of a £12m HLF major grant.
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums has been awarded £498,600 to fund 24 placements through its Heritage Engineering Skills programme.
And the Whitechapel Gallery in London has received £134,900 to train six young people in cultural heritage skills.
Other successful museums and galleries awarded additional Skills for the Future funding include Tate, the British Museum, and the National Maritime Museum in London; the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford; Chiltern Open Air Museum; Museums Galleries Scotland; National Museum Wales; and Ipswich Museum Service.
John Hayes, the minister of state for further education, skills and lifelong learning, said: “Britain's heritage forms a fundamental part of our society and economy; it underpins the very fabric of this country and is envied the world over. It is vital that we make every effort to preserve it and the incredible variety of skills it takes to maintain our heritage sites.”
The Skills for the Future and Training Bursaries programmes are now closed to new applications but new training placements will be created until 2015. The HLF said it is planning a new open skills programme later this year following public consultation.
