News from the Commonwealth Heritage Skills (CHS) Training Programme

Mark Womersley, historic buildings specialist, assists students and tutors from the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPIT) to finish off the building of a small trial lime kiln, at Lears Quarry, Barbados. They used rubble coral stone and bedded it on a mortar made from hydrated lime and cement at a 1:1:6 mix. The aggregate consisted of the […]

11 early career heritage conservation professionals have started their training on the Antigua Research Studio.

Over two weeks in January 2023, 40 young people from the Caribbean, UK, and US carried out a comprehensive investigation of the historic architecture of Roebuck Street, Bridgetown. The Roebuck Street Research Studio is an important step towards the conservation of this historic corridor, generating the data needed to inform a conservation management plan.

The Commonwealth Heritage Forum has established a heritage skills training opportunity at St John’s, Antigua, as part of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Commonwealth Heritage Skills (CHS) Training Programme.

The Commonwealth Heritage Forum will award four full bursaries to students and professionals from the Commonwealth to attend the Prince’s Foundation Summer School at Dumfries House near Glasgow, Scotland, in July 2023.

The Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme at Roebuck Street, Barbados, has been a huge success, drawing in over 40 young participants from across the UK, the US, and the Caribbean.

The Commonwealth Heritage Forum’s Queen Elizabeth II Heritage Skills Training Programme, generously funded by £4.5m from the Hamish Ogston Foundation, has commissioned a Vision Statement for works on Roxburgh House, Gardens, and Herbarium in Kolkata. Roxburgh is one of the main priorities for action under our Commonwealth Heritage at Risk Programme and is already featured on our website.

20-year restoration project completes at former British Residency, the first of 20 projects under the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme, a £4.5million Commonwealth-wide conservation programme funded by the Hamish Ogston Foundation. The Reception, held on Saturday 14 January celebrated the completion of the final phase of restorative work at Osmania Women’s University College in Hyderabad, once the British Residency and one of the most important European heritage buildings at risk in India.

In January 2023, the former British Residency has been restored thanks to years of painstaking conservation work by the World Monuments Fund, international and national partners, and now most recently the Commonwealth Heritage Forum. This marks the first project under the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme; a £4.5million Commonwealth-wide conservation programme funded by the Hamish Ogston Foundation.

The Architectural Conservation Traineeship in Hyderabad was a hugely positive learning experience for all involved. The Traineeship was coordinated with the World Monuments Fund and was the first overseas project under the Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme.

The CHS Training Programme has now awarded 6 Hamish Ogston Foundation Commonwealth Traineeships to fund the attendance of 6 UK-based participants on the course. They will join 6 local participants for the start of the two week programme in Hyderabad on Thursday, 6 October. Based at the spectacular Osmania Womens’ University College, (the former British Residency), they will develop hands-on heritage skills helping to repair and restore the three monumental gateways and the central mall of one of India’s most important buildings at risk.

Last month saw the launch of our new Hamish Ogston Foundation Commonwealth Bursaries—welcoming 4 students from overseas Commonwealth countries to the UK for an exciting training opportunity at The Prince's Foundation's Summer School, which took place at the charity's Dumfries House headquarters in July 2022. The bursary holders this year were: Abigail Charles from Trinidad […]