CITB-ConstructionSkills NI has secured additional funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its Skills for the Future Programme to expand training in traditional building skills here.
The £240,000 HLF grant will provide 10 work-based training placements with experienced practitioners working on traditional (pre-1919) buildings.
It will also fund four heritage ambassadors to act as mentors to the trainees and as advocates to promote traditional building skills and this programme throughout Northern Ireland.
Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of HLF, said: “The Heritage Lottery Fund has been championing work-based placements for a number of years and we are pleased to be able to give even more financial support through the Skills for the Future programme. This extra money expands our tailored skills programmes when demand for training opportunities is extraordinarily high.”
Barry Neilson, Chief Executive CITB-ConstructionSkills NI said: “There is a notable lack of opportunity for craftspeople with traditional building skills and a lack of coordinated formal training provision in this area.
“We are delighted to receive this additional funding and combined with the current HLF grant and on-going CITB-ConstructionSkills NI support, over £0.5m will have been invested in developing the training infrastructure to help develop the skills we need to properly maintain our local built heritage.”
The work-based placements will start in September 2013 and if you are interested in applying or are a built heritage sector contractor or organisation and could facilitate a 12-month funded placement, contact Amanda Stevenson CITB-ConstructionSkills NI amanda.stevenson@citbsni.org.uk
* Earlier this year construction lecturers from local colleges broke new ground by being part of the first ever traditional building skills Training the Trainers programme held in Northern Ireland. This innovative programme allowed them to develop and improve their knowledge and understanding of the traditional building skills and materials essential for the correct repair and maintenance of pre-1919 buildings, of which there are 125,000 in Northern Ireland.
This modular training is an important strand of the CITB-ConstructionSkills NI Sustaining Traditional Building Skills in NI project which received initial funding from the HLF Skills for the Future programme at that stage too.