Fyvie Castle inspires future heritage careers

The seven-week Workforce for the Future project involved the P5/6 class from Fyvie Primary School engaging in various workshops at Fyvie Castle. During their time there, they explored the castle’s history, architecture, surrounding gardens and grounds, and remarkable art collection. This experience played a key role in inspiring a new guided tour of the property, co-created with creative facilitator Chloe Shimmin. The pupils researched and developed their tour and delivered it to their family members at a special event to celebrate the end of the project on 28 March.

The class learned about the different staff who contribute to the running of Fyvie Castle. The pupils heard about delivering tours by staff members where they researched and developed interesting talking points for their own activity. The Collections Care team taught them how to clean objects using porcupine quills and conduct surveys of the castle’s condition by a conservation building surveyor. They also learned about the castle’s historic trees from Fyvie’s rangers and developed event management skills by producing props for our upcoming Easter Egg Trail, taking place in April.

The workshops are part of the Workforce for the Future project, which is funded by the Art Fund and designed to connect museums with young people. Our team at Fyvie Castle joined up with Museum Galleries Scotland to deliver the project, which aims to develop young people’s employability skills, increase their confidence, and help them learn about careers in the heritage sector.

The project at Fyvie Castle was led by our Community Engagement Officer in the North East, Sarah Eggleton, who said: ‘Engaging with pupils from Fyvie Primary through the Workforce for the Future project is a fantastic way to get them excited about the castle’s history and the work we do to maintain this special place in a fun and engaging way. Through the workshops, they have learned about collections care, building conservation, event management, research and development and teamwork. These skills have helped them to produce and deliver a guided tour of the castle for their family at a special celebratory event to mark the end of the project, and we’re super proud of what they’ve achieved.

‘The Workforce for the Future project supports our vision to provide access to and enjoyment of Scotland’s special places and gives us a unique insight into how young people see Fyvie Castle. Our conservation charity is working to become a learning organisation, enabling more people and communities to access our properties and improve their health and wellbeing. We’re delighted to support the project with Fyvie Primary and connect its pupils with the castle’s past and present. We hope the skills and experience they have developed during the project will help them going forward and encourage them to consider working in a role that supports Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage in the future.’

John Campbell, Senior Workforce and Partnerships Manager, Museums and Galleries Scotland said: ‘It is great to see how the Trust has developed the Workforce for the Future project at Fyvie Castle to capture the imagination of local school pupils with the historical past of this 800-year-old fortress. We’re delighted to see how engaged the pupils have been in the workshops where they learned various skills used by staff working at the castle. We’re proud to support the project and are thankful to the team at the castle for their enthusiasm and expertise in assisting the pupils to create their guided tours and learn about a potential future career in the heritage sector.’

Shelley Kingsley, Fyvie Primary School class teacher, said: ‘When I first heard about the Workforce for the Future Castle project, I thought it sounded like a fantastic idea and something I was excited to be a part of. My class has been thoroughly engaged and keen to learn and participate throughout the process. We have been very lucky to have worked with some wonderful, enthusiastic people who have given my class a great insight into the world of work. The project captured the children’s interest by focusing on a local landmark and opened up many new learning experiences for them. It has also helped the children see how their learning in class is necessary for developing skills relating to jobs. Overall, I feel it has been a huge success and something that my class will remember for a long time.’

Projects like Workforce for the Future at Fyvie Castle support our vision to care for, share and protect Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage, as outlined in our strategy launched in 2022. They also contribute to our engagement objectives to provide everyone with access and enjoyment and to be a learning organisation.