First North West Heritage Skills Hub steering group meeting held in Manchester
21 October 2008, The NW Heritage Skills Steering Group had their first meeting on the 21st October 2008. The meeting took place at the John Rylands Library, Deans Gate, Manchester which has recently had a major refurbishment and stunning new build to provide additional facilities and enable the library to be open to the public on a more regular basis.
Before the main part of the meeting members were taken on a conducted tour by architect Chris Prichett from Austin Smith Lord. The tour gave a context for the meeting and an insight into the need for heritage skills in a major refurbishment project.
The meeting was Chaired by Jennifer Latto, co-ordinated by the Heritage Skills Hub Ambassador and attended by representatives from key regional organisations including : NWDA, NWUA, EH, Heritage Trust for the NW, Heritage works, ConstructionSkills, BACH, IHBC, conservation architects, NHTG with apologies from a contractor, LSC and HLF.
The main body of the meeting considered the terms of reference for the steering group and agreed that the group would act as advisors in supporting and influencing the development of training opportunities and projects in the region.
An overview of the mapping exercise was presented and all agreed that members of the group would be responsible for helping to populate the schedule and to achieve a more robust and accurate picture of heritage skill training currently provided in the region. A presentation on key projects in the region illustrated the opportunities that are available for raising the heritage skills game in the NW.
Finally, the preparation of an action plan was discussed and agreed that this would be a priority action for the group. The group agreed to meet on a quarterly basis.