Hamish Ogston Foundation’s Partnership with Historic England Featured during UK Parliament Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Hearing

To watch the full hearing, visit https://bit.ly/3QBS9Hp

The Hamish Ogston Foundation’s partnership with Historic England – the Hamish Ogston Foundation Heritage Building Skills Programme - was featured in a recent Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee hearing at Parliament.

The hearing drew much-needed attention to the relationship between culture and the levelling up agenda and brought together leading experts from across the UK’s culture industry, including Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, as well as Dr Darren Henley, Chief Executive for Arts Council England and Tom Strickland, Theatres Adviser to the Theatres Trust.

During the hearing, Duncan Wilson drew attention to the importance of heritage to the levelling up of cultural opportunities, highlighting that much of Historic England’s work, undertaken with help and funding provided by partner organisations including the Hamish Ogston Foundation, concerns that of restoring heritage sites in the most deprived areas of the UK, where investment has historically been less strong than in other areas of the country.

Duncan Wilson spoke of the partnership with the Hamish Ogston Foundation to combat the skills shortage in heritage conservation and preserve historic buildings of cultural importance

The partnership between the Foundation and Historic England is designed to improve the condition of heritage at-risk sites across historically underfunded areas, to tackle shortages in heritage craft skills and to create viable career opportunities for young people, including those from less-advantaged backgrounds.

These designs have been put in place because the Foundation recognises not only the cultural value of these at-risk sites to both local communities and the UK, but also the huge unrealised potential of young people from less-advantaged backgrounds across the UK and the fulfilment that a career in heritage conservation may provide for them.

To learn more about the Hamish Ogston Foundation Heritage Building Skills Programme, visit https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/training-skills/work-based-training/heritage-apprenticeships/the-hamish-ogston-foundation-heritage-building-skills-programme/

For more information on our other heritage initiatives, please visit

https://www.hamishogstonfoundation.org/heritage/building-heritage-skills