New Building Restoration Initiative using Community Skills Training
24.10.24
SHBT is delighted to launch the first phase of a project aiming to develop a new approach to tackling rural regeneration as well as the crisis in traditional skills. Tenders are invited to support our feasibility study based in Eyemouth, in the Scottish Borders.
Rural Scotland is suffering from both the dereliction of historic buildings and endemic gaps in skills, both in modern and traditional construction methods. Now, SHBT is embarking on a new project which aims to tackle both of these issues together.
We are delighted to have received support from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund via Scottish Borders Council to fund a feasibility study based in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, that will generate new approaches to entrenched problems in how we manage our architectural heritage and (re)use it sustainably.
Taking on several derelict or vacant historic buildings in a rural community, SHBT will explore how a cluster approach of smaller projects, rather than a larger one-off capital renovation, may deliver a greater impact. Furthermore, that these projects can be delivered via a model focussed on working with local business and training local people in the crafts and trades to not only save buildings where they live, but provide them with skills and employment for the rest of their lives.
Dr Samuel Gallacher, Director of SHBT says, “Inspired by the National Trust for Scotland’s Little Houses Improvement Scheme and driven by the critical traditional building skills shortage in rural areas, this new model promises to both save historic buildings and provide aspirational and meaningful career paths for local people who want to learn and work in the area they grew up in. We are excited by the socio-economic benefits of this approach, helping to counter the negative impacts of unmaintained historic buildings in small towns and villages.”
Colin Tennant, Head of Technical Conservation at Historic Environment Scotland, “We welcome Scottish Historic Buildings Trust’s ingenuity and initiative to propose this fresh approach to dealing with some of our historic built environment’s most entrenched issues: skills and rural dereliction. Historic Environment Scotland is delighted to support this feasibility work and will be providing our knowledge and advice to help steer this important project.”
Work With Us
SHBT is seeking consultants who can work with us on two connected work packages to deliver this Feasibility Study. One will be a surveyor who can identify local buildings of historic significance in need of restoration and undertake condition assessments to identify works required. The other will work with the consultant surveyor to identify the skills training opportunities offered by the individual buildings, and design a programme of traditional skills training delivery based around the restoration of a cluster of historic buildings in Eyemouth.
Deadline for proposals: Wednesday 13th November, 2024
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus
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