Over two-thirds of building work on pre-1919 buildings is being carried out by people without the right skills and materials.  Likewise of the half million architects, engineers, surveyors, conservation officers and other professionals working in the UK, only 507 are building conservation-accredited.  These are the stark findings of two reports just published by the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG) revealing the scale of our challenge in preserving our built heritage. 

Icon is offering 10 new work-based internships starting this September as part of the 4-year scheme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.  We are pleased to advertise the third year of this innovative scheme for broadening access to careers in heritage conservation and diversifying its workforce. Many of these placements are aimed at new entrants to conservation from arts, sciences, crafts or wider heritage-related backgrounds.

Growing numbers of tourists and visitors can pose serious problems for many fragile historic sites. The conservation of valuable documents in archives has for some time increasingly depended on the creation of digital surrogate copies, but the challenges surrounding the creation of a digital surrogate of an entire ancient city have proved too daunting until now.  This week, it will be possible for the first time to - literally - take a stroll around virtual Pompeii.  

On 9 April a new, independent organisation dedicated to the care and conservation of collections was launched - Collections Trust.  The aim of the Trust is to deliver programmes which help people connect to culture, and which enable people working in cultural heritage to improve the quality of their services.