CANOLFAN TYWI HERITAGE TRAINING CENTRE WINS MAJOR PRIZE

The Canolfan Tywi Heritage Training Centre in Llandeilo has won a major prize at the 17th Annual Plaisterers’ Training Awards at Plaisterers’ Hall in the City of London.

Canolfan Tywi won the Formula Snelling Cup which is awarded to the independent training provider with the best combined results at levels 2 and 3 ICA, ACA and Diploma in Plastering. The Cup was collected by Nell Hellier, Tywi Centre Manager, from the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow.

The award reflects the impact the Tywi Centre has had on the students that it has supported through heritage skills training over the last five years.

The Tywi Centre is a Carmarthenshire Council construction skills training centre, delivering heritage craft skills training at NVQL3 in Plastering, Carpentry and Masonry in Wales. Heritage Lottery Fund and CITB funding has enabled 85 training bursaries to be delivered, five assessors and three trainers to be trained in Heritage Skills. Of these, 18 trainees have successfully completed their NVQL3 in Heritage Plastering.

The focus of the plasterers’ training has been on the skills required to maintain Wales’s historic built environment, aiming to create a solid base of heritage craftsmen. To these ends the training delivered has been supplemented by additional training for students including courses on modern eco-materials such as hemp and cork lime plastering, and running field trips to heritage construction sites.

The Centre’s impact on the sector in Wales has been dramatic. Of the 50 who have completed their training one has won Specialist Apprentice of the Year UK; eight have set up their own companies; many have remained working with their placement companies; others have been employed in mainstream construction; and the capacity of heritage companies to pass on their skills has been significantly increased.

The Worshipful Company of Plaisterers is the 46th Livery Company out of 110, having obtained its first Royal Charter from Henry VII in 1501. It has been actively involved in the plastering trade since the middle ages, particularly in respect of training and standards.

Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member for regeneration and leisure Cllr Meryl Gravell said: “I’m delighted that the good work of the Tywi Centre has been recognised at this prestigious awards ceremony.

“The centre has helped so many people to gain the specialist skills needed to maintain our historic buildings.”