New equipment has been secured for Walsall Leather Skills Centre following financial support from Walsall Business Support.
WBS has provided a £5000 contribution which will be used for saddle-making tools to be used by apprentices learning their trade at the training school.
The Walsall Leather Skills Centre is offering training to create jobs in the town while supporting the high-quality leather businesses upon which Walsall’s reputation has been based for centuries.
The training centre, in The Bridge, is funded by the Saddlers Company Charitable Fund, the principal charity of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers, a City of London livery company tracing its roots back to the 11th Century.
Working with Walsall-based training company Performance Through People, whose roots are in Walsall, the Saddlers Company Charitable Fund has converted vacant shop premises to provide a training workshop offering a wide range of saddlery and leather-goods courses including the Level 2 Leather Craftsperson and the Level 3 Bespoke Saddler apprenticeships.
Those behind the project hope it will help to plug a skills shortage and reinvigorate an ageing workforce in the town’s saddlery and leather industries. Twenty years ago, around 150 manufacturers were operating in Walsall’s leather industry, compared with around 80 today.
The investment by the Saddlers Company Charitable Fund in the new premises and this training initiative will help the local leather industries respond to the ever-present threat from overseas manufacturing, which has had an impact upon local jobs.
Cllr John Murray, Chairman of Walsall Business Support, said: “We are delighted to be able to help Walsall Leather Skills Centre continue to grow.
“Our aim is to improve life and opportunity for as many people as possible. Supporting causes like Walsall Leather Skills Centre is just the kind of positive difference we are set up to make.”
Patrick Burns, Saddlers Company trade and training adviser, said: “Thank you to Walsall Business Support for the contribution which will allow the next generation of skilled crafts people to learn in Walsall.”
Pictured are: Saddler Alf Peakman and his apprentice granddaughter Hannah Scoffham at the Centre’s 2020 launch