training and education…

High quality training is essential to ensure that professionals are equipped to deal with the many issues facing town centres.

I provide specialist training and education services which are specifically tailored for the needs of your staff. This may be leading a walk-round survey examining historic buildings, a CPD lecture for staff or in-depth training for a small group of staff who deal directly with conservation of shopfronts.

Recent training sessions have included a lecture and tour for IHBC, a lunchtime CPD session for South Ayrshire Council Planning Department and a lecture for planning staff at Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. I have also delivered lectures and tours in connection with THI's at Leith and Rothesay.

Seeing  buildings is often the best way to understand them and I annually lead Doors Open Day tours of Perth city centre looking at the tremendous variety of historic shopfronts there. Other tours have included Crieff and Comrie for 'Exploring Perthshire's Past!".

Despite a rather wet summer and autumn in 2011 we managed to stay dry (almost!) on two recent tours. The AHSS asked me to lead a tour of Crieff and Comrie. Although small, the Perthshire village of Comrie has some tremendous late 19th century shopfronts. In October I was invited to speak at the SPAB in Scotland AGM and to lead a tour round Perth city centre. The centre of Perth is undergoing many changes so there were many points for discussion as we walked around.

Ready for a tour of historic shops in Rothesay, February 2010. © Lorna Pearce