Heritage of two Highland communities to be explored as project recruits five trainees
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Two Highland communities are set to explore their local heritage with the help of five trainees.
The projects will be run in Kirkhill and Ardross by Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH) which was set up 12 years ago.
They will involve collecting memories, researching a range of historical and archaeological sources, ground-truth results during local walks which will be used to create physical and online displays.
They are being made possible thanks to an £18,000 grant from Historic Environment Scotland which has been matched with a grant from the Hugh Fraser Fund and a large number of individual donations.
The money will go towards ARCH’s Facilitated Community Engagement Training (Facet) project and will enable the recruitment of five trainees who will learn how to facilitate community heritage projects in the Highlands.
The Ardross course will run from August to December while the one in Kirkhill will take place from February to June next year.
The trainees will first take part in facilitating the courses and then progressively run them as part of their training. The project also includes workshops on how to cost, structure, and monitor funding applications.
Susan Kruse, ARCH’s learning and engagement manager, welcomed the funding for the Facet project.
"We are so excited that this project will go ahead," she said.
"It builds on successful courses we’ve had in the past, and looks to the future.
"As ARCH’s work has shown, facilitating successful community heritage projects requires different skills and approaches than traditional academic courses, actively involving participants with different skills and backgrounds.
"Our trainees will learn by actively participating on the courses in the two communities, supported by myself.
"Learning materials will be placed on the website, providing resources for others here and further afield.
"We’re looking forward to exploring local heritage in Ardross and Kirkhill, very different communities, but which feature rich multi-period heritage."
Kevin Grant, archaeology manager at Historic Environment Scotland, said his organisation was looking forward to working with ARCH and the communities on the project.
"We are delighted to be able to support this project, which should help build capacity for community heritage in the Highlands and beyond," he said.
"Supporting training and upskilling in heritage is an investment in the future of our communities and will allow more and more people to discover the benefits of engaging with our collective heritage."
Recruitment for the five trainees is currently under way.
Further details about the project and the trainee posts can be found on the ARCH website at www.archhighland.org.uk.
Related story: Historical fun at Highland Archaeology Festival
