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Inspiring the Next Generation of Makers and Conservators

  • When: Tuesday 4 November 2025
  • Where: Holy Sepulchre, Holborn Viaduct, EC1A 2DQ
  • Times 10.00am – 2.00pm Schools can choose to attend either:
    • Morning session: 10.00am – 12.00pm
    • Afternoon session: 12.00pm – 2.00pm
  • Who: Secondary school students and teachers

Discover Your Future in Heritage Crafts and Conservation

Part of Discover! Creative Careers Month 2025 and Making the Future programme
The Square Mile Churches and Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust are delighted to invite your students to take part in a unique Careers Experience Day focused on inspiring the next generation of makers, conservators, and heritage professionals.

This event offers students a rare opportunity to explore the wide range of careers in the heritage, conservation, and traditional crafts sectors.

From hands-on demonstrations to direct conversations with industry experts, training providers, livery companies, and funding bodies, students will gain invaluable insight into the practical pathways available — including apprenticeships, bursaries, college courses, and early career opportunities.

Whether your students are creatively inclined, interested in history, or simply curious about lesser-known but highly rewarding careers, this event is designed to open doors, spark interest, and expand horizons.

What’s in store?

Meet the Experts

  • Talk to Craftspeople, Conservators, Architects, and Energy Consultants
    Ask questions, hear real stories, and gain insight into how people got started – and what it’s like to work in heritage and conservation today.
  • Discover Real Career Journeys
    Meet a diverse mix of professionals – from stonemasons and jewellers to digital surveyors and climate consultants – and learn about their day-to-day work and the skills they use.
  • Explore Training Routes and Opportunities
    Get practical advice on pathways into the sector, including apprenticeships, higher education, early career schemes, and funding options. Understand what skills are in demand and how to take the next step.

 Live Demonstrations

  • See Craft and Conservation in Action
    Watch live demonstrations of traditional hand carving, letter cutting, sketching, and digital techniques like 3D scanning and thermal imaging – all used in real-world conservation.
  • From Tools to Tech: Experience the Process Firsthand
    Whether it’s stone tools or modern energy diagnostics, see how heritage professionals combine craftsmanship and innovation to care for historic buildings.
  • Discover the Craft Behind the Conservation
    Demonstrations by skilled professionals, students, and tutors offer a close-up look at the making, repairing, and preserving of the UK’s historic buildings and artefacts.

Explore Your Pathway

  • Hear from Young People and Emerging Makers
    Join informal conversations with students and recent graduates who’ve taken different routes into the sector — and learn how their training shaped their journeys.
  • Discover Careers You May Not Have Considered
    Gain insights into roles across craft, heritage, and conservation, and understand how your own interests and strengths could lead to a meaningful and creative career.

Join two Inspiring Panel Talks

  • 10.30am – Routes into Conservation
    Hear from professionals about career paths, specialisms, and emerging opportunities.
  • 1.00pm – Student Voices Panel
    An informal “in conversation” session with students and recent graduates sharing their real-life training journeys.
BOOK CAREERS FAIR PLACES FOR YOUR SCHOOL

Optional Visit to Westminster Abbey and the Cosmati Pavement At 2.30pm

Extend your day with a special visit to Westminster Abbey. Students will meet Vanessa Simeoni, Head of Conservation, and learn what it takes to care for one of the nation’s most iconic buildings – from the skills involved to the career opportunities it can offer.

The visit includes a rare chance to walk on the 755-year-old Cosmati Pavement, where King Charles III was crowned, and discover what’s involved in conserving this extraordinary ‘carpet of stone’.

Places are limited, so early booking is advised. Email contact.squaremilechurches@london.anglican.org to book.

Who will be there?

  • QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust)
  • ICON (The Institute of Conservation)
  • City & Guilds of London Art School
  • SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings)
  • St Paul’s Cathedral Stonemasons
  • Churches Conservation Trust
  • The Craft Council
  • Goldsmith’s Centre
  • The Lettering Arts Trust
  • Inspired Efficiency
  • And more to be confirmed…

Who should attend?

This event is ideal for:

  • Secondary Students (KS4 and KS5), especially those making career choices in Yrs 10–12, and interested in practical, creative, or hands-on careers
  • Those considering apprenticeships, scholarships, or alternative training routes
  • School career leads looking to broaden student awareness of vocational opportunities

ACTIVITIES IN MORE DETAIL

What’s happening across the day …

Meet Makers and Explore Pathways into Craft and Conservation

Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust – QEST

Qest are joined by some of their previous grant recipients who will answer questions about their journeys into craft and conservation. The QEST team are on hand to speak about how they support individuals through their career and to give advice on getting started in the sector, there’s also an opportunity to find out more about QEST’s Youth Board and how you can get involved in shaping the future of craft.

Try Your Hand at Sketching and Explore Traditional Building Crafts

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings – SPAB

We train new generations of architectural professionals and building craftspeople to shape the historic built landscape with sensitivity and skill through our flagship Scholarship and Fellowship programmes. Come and find out about our training programmes, meet young craftspeople and architects, handle craft tools and materials, and try your hand at sketching.

Experience 3D Scanning and Thermal Imaging for Historic Buildings

Inspired Efficiency

Explore how cutting-edge technology is being used to help historic buildings become more energy efficient. Inspired Efficiency will introduce students to careers in energy consultancy and surveying, demonstrating tools like thermal imaging and 3D scanning used to assess buildings. Discover how experts are helping heritage sites reduce their carbon footprint and learn about the growing need for sustainable solutions in the conservation sector.

Watch Stone Carving in Action and Learn About Stonemasonry Careers

St Paul’s Cathedral Stonemasons

Meet James and Martin, expert stonemasons from St Paul’s Cathedral, and discover the traditional craft of working with stone. Learn about the different types of stonemasonry – including banker, fixer, and heritage conservation – and explore how hand tools are used to handle, cut, shape, and dress stone. Find out how St Paul’s is helping to keep endangered craft skills alive through training and apprenticeships, and how stonemasonry plays a vital role in preserving one of the country’s most iconic historic buildings.

See Live Wood and Stone Carving, and Explore Careers in Conservation

City & Guilds of London Art School

Discover the world of wood and stone carving and conservation through live demonstrations by students and tutors from the City & Guilds of London Art School. See up close how intricate designs are created and gain insight into the tools, techniques, and processes behind these traditional crafts. The Art School will also display examples of student work from its specialist carving and conservation programmes, including BA and MA degrees. You will have the chance to meet current students, learn about their career paths, and explore the training routes available for those interested in heritage craft and conservation.

Explore Jewellery and Silversmithing Through Work by Emerging Makers

The Goldsmiths’ Centre

Find out how careers in jewellery, silversmithing, and allied crafts begin – and where they can lead. The Goldsmiths’ Centre will showcase examples of work created by emerging makers, along with video stories from former trainees sharing their journeys into the industry. Staff will be on hand to talk about the Centre’s Jewellery Foundation Programme and other pathways into craft.

Connect with Conservation Experts and Investigate Climate Challenges for Historic Churches

Churches Conservation Trust

You will have the opportunity to meet and talk to two members of the Conservation Team from the CCT and hear about their experience in the industry. Meriel O’ Dowd, Conservation Project Manager, and Elizabeth McGrath, Estate Officer. There will also be a chance to take part in a small competition and discuss a new project that aims to measure the impact of climate change on the churches in their care.

See a letter carver in action, and have a go!

Lettering Arts Trust

Come and talk to our team to find out more about the skills need to become a letter caver, apprenticeships, journeyman placements, and the path to starting a career. The Lettering Arts Trust is a national charity that supports letter carvers through funding professional development, exhibitions, and our commission service.

See who’s taking part

FIND OUT MORE about our heritage partners and the organisations bringing expert knowledge, training opportunities and hands-on skills to the Careers Experience Day.

The venue

Holy Sepulchre London Holborn Viaduct London, EC1A 2DQ

Step inside one of London’s most remarkable historic churches — a Grade I listed gem steeped in centuries of craftsmanship and care. Rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666, Holy Sepulchre has recently undergone conservation work that you’ll be able to see up close. It’s a fitting setting for a day dedicated to heritage, craft, and the skills that keep historic buildings like this alive for future generations.

Getting here: Bus – 8, 25, 46, 242, and 521 buses stop outside the church.

Tube: Thameslink – HSL is opposite the north entrance of the City Thameslink; Central Line – St. Paul’s tube station is a 5-minute walk; District (south) and Circle Lines – Blackfriars is a 7-minute walk; District (north), Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, and Crosslink – Farringdon station is a 7-minute walk.

Book places for your students now

Heritage Careers Experience Day

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