{"id":13830,"date":"2016-09-29T16:41:33","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T15:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=13830"},"modified":"2016-09-29T16:41:33","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T15:41:33","slug":"heritages-big-economics-hlfs-192million-to-more-than-380-waterways-projects-since-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=13830","title":{"rendered":"Heritage\u2019s \u2018big economics\u2019: HLF\u2019s \u00a3192million+ to more than 380 waterways projects since 1994"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>The World Canals Conference recently held in Inverness revealed interesting statistics about canal heritage funding, and the stories behind how this funding positively affects people\u2019s lives.<\/h3>\n<p>The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) writes:<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the World Canals Conference in Inverness, Dame Seona said the canal network plays\u00a0a central role in the UK\u2019s industrial legacy, boosts\u00a0present-day local economies and tourism, protects wildlife, and offers many opportunities for volunteering and skills\u00a0training.<\/p>\n<p>All these aspects had been addressed in HLF grant support which, since 1994, had awarded over \u00a3192million to more than 380 waterways\u00a0projects.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We have supported a breathtaking range of projects from large-scale capital investment in heavy engineering, to ensuring the preservation of memories, and delivering the skills and training needed to ensure that the young people of today can become the guardians of our canals in the future,\u2019 she told her\u00a0audience.\u00a0 Canals are also a vital natural resource, providing habitats for an abundance of plant and animal life and forming wildlife corridors passing through our largest cities out to our most far-flung\u00a0regions.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Examples of where HLF\u2013administered National Lottery funding had transformed the fortunes of canals and waterways ranged\u00a0include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a325m that helped saved the Kennet and Avon following nearly a century of decline, to a modest \u00a35,000 that enabled the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society to partner with a local organisation for visually impaired people to help them appreciate canal heritage by means of specially commissioned interpretation\u00a0material<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, a \u00a32m regeneration project at the Weavers Triangle in Burnley restored a historic wharf, providing a visitor centre and space for commercial\u00a0enterprises<\/li>\n<li>In Scotland the Canal College project, awarded a \u00a3212,000 grant, found solutions to local skills shortages and high youth unemployment through a programme of training and skills development focused on the Forth &amp; Clyde and Union Canals. Twelve 14-week\u00a0work programmes addressed youth unemployment in Falkirk and Edinburgh by teaching heritage and environmental skills to disadvantaged 16-25\u00a0year\u00a0olds<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of the 162 young people who took part in the Canal College project, 72% moved into similar work, further education or training once they completed their course. One of these, 20-year-old Angus Harkness, is the subject of this week\u2019s Changing lives story.\u00a0 Previously working as a labourer on the Isle of Skye, Angus secured a place at the HLF-supported Canal College before moving on to work for Scottish Canals as part of a Skills for the Future programme.\u00a0 This led to a four-year apprenticeship and Angus is now the only stonemason who maintains and repairs the historic locks, bridges and other structures of the Union and Forth &amp; Clyde\u00a0Canals.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hlf.org.uk\/about-us\/news-features\/breathtaking-range-projects-protect-canal-heritage\" target=\"_blank\">read more&#8230;.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Canals Conference recently held in Inverness revealed interesting statistics about canal heritage funding, and the stories behind how this funding positively affects people\u2019s lives. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) writes: Addressing the World Canals Conference in Inverness, Dame &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=13830\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13831,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13830\/revisions\/13831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}