News from the Commonwealth Heritage Skills (CHS) Training Programme
The Commonwealth Heritage Forum’s Queen Elizabeth II Heritage Skills Training Programme 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. 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 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 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 and Tobago, Zaryah […]
Zaryah Harewood, one of the 2022 Commonwealth Bursary holders, was featured in local news stories to celebrate his award: Zaryah Harewood, a student of Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPI), is among six students and professionals from Commonwealth countries who were awarded the Commonwealth Bursary for The Prince's Foundation Summer School in July 2022. […]
We’ve seen excellent reception and worldwide coverage of the launch of The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme.
The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme – the largest ever Commonwealth heritage project - was launched on 19 May 2022 by the Commonwealth Heritage Forum. The charity has been granted the rare honour of naming the five-year programme in honour of the Sovereign, thus recognising Her Majesty’s seventy years of service […]
The Commonwealth Heritage Forum organised A Conference of the Islands—with funding from the UK High Commission in Barbados—with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of the shared needs and opportunities for the heritage of the Caribbean. The purpose of the conference was to listen to local people, so we could understand better the needs […]
The biggest-ever Commonwealth heritage project, marking Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, will be announced at the HQ of the Barbados National Trust on 9 February, as part of A Conference of the Islands aimed at developing a deeper understanding of the shared needs and opportunities for the heritage of the Caribbean. The 5-year Commonwealth […]