A SCHEME to train people as shipwrights in the region has been given a lottery cash boost.

The Blyth Tall Ships scheme will get £679,000 to train 34 people - many drawn from local communities - as shipwrights in Blyth, Northumberland.

They will learn skills such as the rigging and repair of wooden ships.

The scheme is one of 18b nationwide to benefit from a £10.1m in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to train people in heritage skills, from dry stone walling to rigging and repairing traditional wooden sailing ships.

A strong focus is being put on training people who may never have considered a career in heritage, with opportunities for ex-servicemen and ex-offenders to train.

While it is not a job creation scheme, the Skills for the Future programme has seen 75 per cent of trainees securing a job in heritage following their training.

The funding is part of a wider commitment in the Government’s Culture White Paper to address skill shortages in heritage which are under threat of being lost.