Women in Construction – It’s not just jobs for the boys

On Wednesday 29 September, craftspeople of the future gathered at the Women in Construction event hosted by the Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme, at the spectacular Grade 1 listed National Trust’s property, Tyntesfield, near Bristol.

Amongst them were some of the female trainees from the Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme who were demonstrating their crafts. Currently, women comprise only 2% of craftspeople working in mainstream construction, but women make up 15% of trainees on the Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme.

With 76% of the Scheme’s Trainees going on to work in the built heritage sector, the Scheme is making a difference for individuals, contractors and the whole sector by improved skills and increased workforce diversity.

Sarah Staniforth, National Trust’s Historic Properties Director says "The National Trust recognise the serious issue of the lack of traditional building skills in the heritage sector, and in particular the lack of women undertaking this crucial work. We therefore applaud this event which we hope will raise awareness of the situation and help address it in the future".

Reflecting on the Traditional Skills Bursary Scheme, Lois Raine a self-employed painter and decorator who undertook a placement with St Fagans, National Museum Wales said: “The Bursary Scheme has given me the opportunity to extend my skills in a way that would never have happened with my own business.” She continues “As time goes on, I have become more obsessive about what I do! I am completely absorbed by the process, the architecture, the structural form, the building materials and the appropriate decorative finishes.”

Carpentry trainee, Lisa Oliver is passionate about her profession and craft: “I love the independence that my skills and knowledge in woodworking give me. Wood is such a versatile material, so beautiful and tactile. You can sit on it, stir your dinner with it and burn it to keep you warm.” Lisa is currently undertaking a placement with C.S. Williams, currently main contractors on the major conservation and repair programme at Tyntesfield.

An organisation which focuses on women working in the construction industry, Women and Manual Trades (WAMT) are very supportive of the Scheme and increasing diversity within the construction industry. WAMT Chief Executive Niki Luscombe comments “by actively recruiting a more diverse workforce, organisations reap the benefits of improved reputation and potentially gain competitive advantage by demonstrating to procurers that they can supply a workforce that both reflects and understands the needs of the communities they work within. Women experience many barriers in accessing the career of their choice. These barriers may be personal or societal, including dynamics such as prejudice against women entering construction jobs. The building bursaries scheme has helped break down some of these barriers and has been very successful in attracting more women into the sector.”

The Bursary Scheme, worth £1.7m, is designed to help address skills gaps currently encountered in the built heritage sector. It is mainly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (£1,400,000) and is managed by a partnership comprising English Heritage, The National Trust, Cadw, ConstructionSkills, and the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG). The Scheme, which has been running since 2006, has already recruited 95 trainees and with current funding, will continue until the end 2011.
'Edward Impey, Director of Conservation and Protection at English Heritage, also offered his support: “craft skills are vital to the maintenance of our heritage and this bursary scheme is essential to maintaining these skills”.

The scheme is designed to assist craftspeople already working in mainstream construction to develop the specialist skills and knowledge required in the built heritage sector. It also helps career changers seeking to obtain particular traditional building skills expertise or experience in the heritage sector by funding and facilitating live, site-based training placements with contractors and organisations. Traditional skills covered include brickwork, carpentry and joinery, fibrous plaster, lime plaster, stone masonry and conservation, leadwork, traditional roofing, painting and decoration, earth building and blacksmithing.

For further information and images, and details of the trainees, contact Clara Willett, The Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme Manager on 01442 890756 or  enquiries@buildingbursaries.org.uk or visit www.buildingbursaries.org.uk

The Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme is primarily funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and is run by a partnership of English Heritage, The National Trust, Cadw, ConstructionSkills and the National Heritage Training Group. It provides funding and work-based placements for people to develop their traditional building skills.

Heritage Lottery Fund uses money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment, skills and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage.  HLF has supported more than 33,900 projects, allocating £4.4billion across the UK.  Website: www.hlf.org.uk.  For bursaries: www.hlf.org.uk/skills.    Images are available on request. 

For further information, please contact Katie Owen, HLF Press Office, on tel: (020) 7591 6036. Out of office hours mobile: 07973 613820.
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English Heritage is a public body with responsibility for all aspects of protecting and promoting the historic environment. Officially known as the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, English Heritage is an Executive Non-departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Our powers and responsibilities are set out in the National Heritage Act (1983) and today we act as the government's advisor on the historic environment, we work with the office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Departments for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for Trade and Industry. English Heritage is funded in part by the Government and in part from revenue earned from our historic properties and other services. For further information, please contact Renee Fok, Press Office on tel: 020 7973 3297.

The National Trust cares for 300 inspiring historic houses and gardens across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. From former workers' cottages to the most iconic stately homes, and from mines and mills to theatres and inns, the stories of people and their heritage are at the heart of everything it does. People of all ages, individuals, schools and communities, get involved each year with its projects, events and working holidays and 61,000 volunteers help to bring the properties alive for the Trust's 3.8 million members. Find out more at: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

Cadw is the Welsh Historic Monuments is the organization that has the responsibility for protecting, conserving and presenting ancient monuments and historic buildings in Wales. The name Cadw comes from the Welsh word that means "to keep" or "to preserve". It cares for over 100 ancient monuments and historic buildings of national importance, which are open to the public.  For more information visit www.cadw.wales.gov.uk.

ConstructionSkills is the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry. It is a partnership between CITB-ConstructionSkills, CIC and CITB Northern Ireland. It is UK-wide and represents the whole industry from professional consultancies to major contractors and SMEs. Established as a Sector Skills Council in 2003, ConstructionSkills is working to deliver a safe, professional and fully qualified construction workforce. For more information visit www.cskills.org.

The National Heritage Training Group (NHTG) is an independent specialist sector skills development group with a UK-wide remit to provide assistance with all aspects of recruiting, training, and qualifying the built heritage sector workforce of the construction industry. This is achieved by working in partnership with clients, heritage bodies, contractors, Trade Federations, Trades Unions and FE and private training providers to develop flexible training and skills development to ensure we have sufficiently skilled craftspeople to work on our UK historic building stock. For more information visit www.nhtg.org.uk.