The King’s Foundation
The King’s Foundation, first formed in 1990, is a charity founded by King Charles III as Prince of Wales – inspired by His Majesty’s philosophy of Harmony.
The Country Houses Foundation has been proud to join in his drive to improve opportunities for young people to develop traditional skills and maintain heritage attractions.
The CHF has supported The King’s Foundation for over a decade as it is one of very few organisations which receive repeat funding on a long-term programme.
The grant is to the Building Crafts and Conservation Programme which focuses on training for young people in traditional crafts to achieve an NVQ3 qualification in heritage skills.
Opportunities for new Master Craftspeople
The Buildings Crafts and Conservation Programme supports those working in the construction and craft sector to push their skills to the next level and continue on their journey to create the next generation of master craftspeople.
Recognising that there is a shortage of skilled crafts practitioners providing expertise in traditional crafts like stonemasonry, thatching, plastering, carpentry and blacksmithing, the nine-month long Programme aims to establish a new generation of skilled master craftsmen, bridging the gap between basic qualifications and specialist heritage conservation skills.
To date the programme has seen 200 future master craftspeople qualify in traditional skills, including six skills which are on the Red List of Endangered Crafts.
What we fund
The Country Houses Foundation funding recognises the crucial importance of the Building Crafts and Conservation Programme in raising standards for heritage conservation. The grant helps to provide bursary funding to ensure that students, who are all already employed in the building industry , can join the course from a wide variety of backgrounds. Specialist skills learned include stonemasonry, dry stone walling, carpentry and joinery, bricklaying, blacksmithing, plastering, thatching, roofing, tiling/ceramics, glasswork, painting and decorating.