R E V I E W 31 CATHIE CLARKE HERITAGESKILLSHUB Volunteering provides me with motivation and focus. TLJMMT GPS FYBNQMF JO UIF VTF PG TPDJBM media which has been a real revelation * XBT TPNFUIJOH PG B TDFQUJD CFGPSFIBOE 6TJOH TPDJBM NFEJB IBT allowed me to contact a much wider range of people with an interest in historic building conservation than traditional media would have allowed. I’ve also been able to forge links with high profile people such as +POBUIBO 'PZMF -PZE (SPTTNBO BOE Simon Thurley. HeritageSkillsHUB now has a regional, national and international following. I use Twitter a lot and its benefits DBO CF TVSQSJTJOH 'PS FYBNQMF * got to know the work of a talented architectural photographer called Andy Marshall. When I posted a picture of a medieval barn that was seeking HLF funding, Andy tweeted back that he was interested in the building. He decided to visit it and ended up meeting the project team, and he has provided them with some wonderful photos to support their bid. Everyone has benefitted and everyone’s profile has been raised. On a cautionary note, there is a technique to being successful with Twitter, you need to have a strategy rather than just using it for disjointed ramblings and social chat. ACHIEVEMENTS I have been able to provide new forms and higher levels of support to the sector including: t helping craftspeople to apply for Heritage CSCS cards t providing CPD sessions for construction professionals t providing information and taster events for the general public t bringing together traditional TLJMMT FYQFSUT BOE OFX MFBSOFST t disseminating information on a wide range of issues relating to traditional building skills training t securing media coverage for HeritageSkillsHUB across the Midlands and nationally t using social media to raise awareness, resulting in Newstead Abbey’s successful application to be placed on theWorld Monuments Fund 2012Watch List. CAREER DEVELOPMENT Volunteering provides me with motivation and focus and will ensure continuity between the cessation of the old project and the launch of the new one. CHALLENGES Maintaining motivation when GSVTUSBUFE CZ FYJTUJOH QPMJUJDT BOE structures can be a major challenge. Being made redundant has also given me more time that I have chosen to fill by trying to establish a new organisation and keep the information flowing. However, I have found it di!cult not to feel guilty if I spend time doing things for myself. Cathie Clarke was, until recently, the project manager for skills for the East Midlands Centre for Constructing the Built Environment (EMCBE) and Heritage Craft Skills Coordinator for the Midlands. The role was designed to support the built environment sector to develop its skills and subsequently developed to have a specific focus on traditional skills. As a vehicle for this work she created the HeritageSkillsHUB, supported by a voluntary steering group, which is primarily an information portal but is supplemented by events such as traditional skills days, seminars and workshops. The HeritageSkillsHUB project started in the East Midlands in 2009 and was funded by EMCBE Ltd and English Heritage (EH). Its success in raising awareness about traditional building skills resulted in more funding from EH to expand its remit to cover the whole of the Midlands. In February 2012, EMCBE Ltd closed. In the absence of core funding, HeritageSkillsHUB is now being run by Cathie Clarke on a voluntary basis. THE PROJECT I developed the project from scratch between January 2009 and February this year when the core funding stopped and I was made redundant from EMCBE Ltd, the host organisation which has now closed. I am carrying on with the project on a voluntary basis to try to establish a TVJUBCMF IPTU TUSVDUVSF B DIBSJUBCMF USVTU PS DPNNVOJUZ JOUFSFTU DPNQBOZ that can access funding from English Heritage and other potential sources. MOTIVATION HeritageSkillsHUB has a high profile BOE IBT CFFO FYUSFNFMZ TVDDFTTGVM JO raising awareness of the importance of traditional building skills. I don’t want to see all this e"ort disappear into a black hole if there is any chance of a new organisation being formed to take the work forward. SKILLS I think the following skills have been especially useful in my volunteer role: t a high level of enthusiasm which helps to keep me motivated t project management t organisation and administration t presentation t networking. I have also developed a range of new Cathie Clarke cutting a roof tile at HeritageSkillsHUB’s ‘Caring for Your Traditional Building’ event at Avoncroft Museum, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire in November 2011
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