THE Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways are calling for new recruits to join a training programme after successfully securing £454,500 funding

The Heritage Lottery Funds will support a training programme, designed to introduce traditional skills to a 'more diverse' audience.

Part of the HLF ‘Skills for the Future’ scheme, the initiative seeks to recruit 20 trainees over a two-year period.

The railways aim to attract trainees to share the heritage talents of its workforce and hopes to encourage careers in the heritage sector.

The bid follows the successful integration of ten new trainees, at the start of the programme back in the spring of 2018. Recruitment for the second phase, starts in September, 2019.

Paul Lewin, FFWHR director and general manager, said: "For our national heritage to have a bright future we need to ensure that there are people with the skills necessary to conserve, work with and interpret our heritage assets.

"It is of vital importance that people from all backgrounds are attracted to be involved in our heritage at all levels.

"Also, as traditional heritage skills diverge from the requirements of mainstream industry, it is ever more important that we concentrate on developing those skills.

"This program, made possible by HLF, allows us to focus on these challenges in a way that we simply could not otherwise hope to do."

Skills areas covered by the scheme include horticulture, heritage joinery, heritage mechanical engineering, dry stone walling, permanent way engineering and heritage interpretation.

The scheme will work in collaboration with local partners and colleges.

Initial contact can be made by emailing hlfs4f@ffwhr.com, further information can be found at http://www.ffwhrheritageskills.co.uk