Renfrewshire Council

What the grant is

The Traditional Building Skills Training Support is a grant for training people in traditional building skills and the conservation of historic buildings.

It can include training for:

• conservation of historic buildings
• traditional leadwork
• natural roofing
• lime mortar
• traditional stonework
• sash and case windows
• traditional plasterwork
• traditional sign-painting
• traditional joinery
• traditional rainwater goods
• traditional pattern making
• traditional ironwork.

If there are other skills not listed here that you think could qualify for the grant, email the City Deal and Infrastructure team at th.cars2@renfrewshire.gov.uk. 

The grant is offered by Renfrewshire Council through the Paisley Townscape Heritage Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme 2 (TH.CARS2) project, which is funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and Renfrewshire Council.

Who can apply for the grant

The grant is available to small or medium sized construction companies in Renfrewshire.

A small or medium sized business has: 

• fewer than 250 staff
• a turnover of less than £25 million
• gross assets of less than £12.5 million.

What you can use the grant for

You can use the grant to increase the traditional building skills and conservation knowledge of your employees.  

The training must be delivered by an appropriate external training provider.

Organisations including the Scottish Lime Centre Trust, Glasgow City Heritage Trust and Historic Environment Scotland's Engine Shed offer short courses and career and professional development to the construction sector on conservation topics, many of which are accredited.

How much you can get

You can apply for a maximum of £2000 per application. You can get of up to 100% of eligible costs, excluding VAT.

You can use the grant for up to:

• 74% of course fees (excluding VAT) 
• 100% of reasonable travel costs (excluding VAT) 
• 100% of reasonable accommodation costs (excluding VAT) 
• 100% of reasonable food & drink costs (excluding VAT and alcohol).

You can't use the funding for VAT or loss of earnings. 

You also can't use the funding for legislation compliance training for your business. 

How to apply

Complete the Traditional Building Skills Training Support application form [260KB] and email it to the City Deal and Infrastructure team at th.cars2@renfrewshire.gov.uk.   

You'll need to state how much you are applying for and the source of any other funding you have for the training. Any match funding for training cannot come from Renfrewshire Council, National Lottery Heritage Fund or Historic Environment Scotland. 

You'll need to include a detailed plan of the proposed training with your application. 

You can apply for one or more of your employees on a single application.

You can only make one grant application at a time. If you are awarded the grant, you cannot apply again until the funded training has been completed.

Deadlines for applying

The deadlines for applying for the grant are:

• Round 1: Thursday 29 July 2021
• Round 2: Thursday 26 August 2021
• Round 3: Thursday 23 September 2021
• Round 4: Thursday 28 October 2021
• Round 5: Thursday 25 November 2021

What happens next

You should not pay for the training until you have applied for the grant and we have made you a formal offer of funding.

We will decide on all eligible applications within 3 weeks of each funding round deadline, until all the funding has been allocated.

We will assess each application on its impact on skills and knowledge and how it will benefit both your business and the wider construction sector in Renfrewshire.

If your application is successful

If your application is successful, 25% of the grant will be paid on proof that you have booked the training. 

We will pay the balance of 75% when:

• the training has been completed
• you have provided us with records of the training  
• the training provider has been paid. 

If the training is being delivered over several weeks, we may be able to pay the grant to you in instalments. You may need to provide us with additional evidence or records about the training to qualify for staged payments. 

The training must be completed Thursday 31 March 2022. This includes sending us any all evidence and evaluations to claim your grant.  

More information

If you think your business would benefit and is eligible for the grant, contact the Paisley Regeneration team at th.cars2@renfrewshire.gov.uk.