Heritage Crafts Training Enters New Phase at Gloucester Cathedral
Second tranche of funding from the Hamish Ogston Foundation (HOF) supporting heritage craft training through the Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship (CWF) allows Gloucester Cathedral to offer two highly valued Apprentice Stonemason positions.
This additional award of £700k has enabled the ten CWF cathedrals to offer training places to up to twenty-five craft trainees from September 2021.
Pascal Mychalysin, Master Mason at Gloucester Cathedral said:
“We are hugely grateful to the Hamish Ogston Foundation. It is through their continued generosity we can offer these new, unique and rare opportunities. Our trainees will learn valuable, highly skilled, traditional methods and will play an integral part in protecting this beautiful building and heritage for generations to come.”
In January, thanks to the first tranche of funding from HOF, the cathedral’s workshop was delighted to welcome Tony Murphy. He moved to a new placement to become a Gloucester Cathedral trainee stonemason, saving his position on the CWF course which had been in jeopardy due to redundancy.
Tony said:
“The funding from the Hamish Ogston Foundation is enabling me to continue my learning through the CWF at Gloucester Cathedral. I am passionate about furthering my skills and deepening my knowledge and experience as a crafts person. The broad range of teaching, work-based learning and professional development provided by the CWF is an invaluable opportunity for me. I am incredibly grateful to the HOF for their support”.
The new funding marks the second phase of a five-year partnership project with the CWF in which HOF is contributing £3.1m to expand heritage training at English cathedrals, enabling them to continue to develop the next generation of craftspeople despite the devastating impact of Covid-19 on cathedrals’ finances. The HOF Craft Training project will be key to maintaining the flow of skilled craftspeople on whom the future of our cathedrals depends.
Explore Gloucestershire
28 June 2021
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