University of Gloucestershire’s partnership with cathedrals celebrates its latest graduates

By Peter Davison

18 October 2023

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Graduates, representatives of the Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship and Dr Matthew Andrews (front row, second right) from University of Gloucestershire at the graduation ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral (photo credit: Paul Placitelli Photography)

An academic partnership between University of Gloucestershire and an association of 13 cathedrals in England to produce the next generation of people with advanced craft skills, has celebrated the achievements of its latest graduates.

Since its launch in 2010, more than 60 graduands have benefited from the University’s partnership with the Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship (CWF) that comprises the following Anglican cathedrals – Canterbury, Chester, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Salisbury, Westminster Abbey, Winchester, Worcester, York Minster and the recently joined St Paul’s.

The CWF provides education and training for craftsmen and craftswomen to maintain cathedrals and other historic buildings in the 21st century, with students including heritage stonemasons, carpenters, electricians, and plumbers.

Students enrolled on the two-year CWF programme and benefitted from studying a Foundation degree in Applied Historic Building Conservation and Repair, alongside gaining hands-on skills and experience working on site with trained professionals.

Dr Matthew Andrews, Pro Vice-Chancellor Governance and Students Affairs of the University, conferred awards to 14 graduates at the latest graduation ceremony for the programme, at Canterbury Cathedral.

Dr Andrews said: “The University is extremely proud to have been working in partnership with the Cathedrals Workshop Fellowship to help produce the next generation of people with advanced craft skills.

“We’re delighted that 10 of the latest graduates from the programme achieved Merit awards and three earned Distinction qualifications, which is a testament to both the robustness of the CWF programme and the immense talent of these graduates.”

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One of the graduates, Emma Waitzmann, said she was looking forward to applying the skills and knowledge she gained from the programme, which included a placement at York Minster, in New Zealand..

Emma said: “I am looking forward to travelling around New Zealand next following the end of my training role at York Minster and hopefully taking my skills to other projects there.

“This course has helped me develop my skills and confidence and I am now feeling ready for the next chapter of my career.”

By Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country.

An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts.

Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.