Anna Plowden/Clothworkers' Foundation CPD Grants

Our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Grants enable conservators practising in the UK to take advantage of CPD opportunities by contributing towards the cost of short courses and attending conferences.

Thanks to a major partnership with The Clothworkers' Foundation, we have much increased funding available for CPD grants.  The Plowden/Clothworkers' Foundation CPD Grants can be awarded for up to £1,000 or 50% (whichever is the smaller amount) of the cost of the conference or training course.

We welcome applications for in-person or online CPD events; the application form can be downloaded below.

If you are awarded a grant to attend a conference that is subsequently postponed, your grant will be honoured for the postponed event.  If the event is moved online the costs are likely to be reduced: you can use your grant towards these costs and any funds that you do not need will be used to support others in their CPD.

Please note that conservation students, PhD students and interns are NOT eligible to apply for a CPD grant.  Please bear in mind that we will normally give preference to applicants who intend to make their careers in the UK and do not give grants to conservators practising overseas.

The 2024 application deadlines are:
15 January 2024
8 April 2024
3 June 2024
9 September 2024

All applications must be made on the APT's application form which can be downloaded below.

CPD Grant in Memory of Robert Shepherd

NOTE that you do not need to apply separately for this CPD grant. All applications that fit the criteria for the grant will automatically be considered. 

The Anna Plowden Trust  administers a fund set up in memory of the late Robert Shepherd, the well-known picture conservator. This fund provides an annual CPD grant to a paintings conservator currently working, and making their career, in the UK.   It also funds a Scholarship for a painting conservation student.

• Our standard terms and conditions apply to these grants: no more than 50% of the course cost or up to £1,000 whichever is the lower amount.
• Apply on our CPD application form that you can download below by the deadlines indicated below.
• The successful candidate might, in addition to the normal reporting requirements of the APT scheme, be asked to give a presentation on the course or conference attended  at a meeting of the British Association of Picture Conservator Restorers.
• All eligible applicants will automatically be considered for the Robert Shepherd CPD Grant.
• Note that you would receive either the Shepherd CPD Grant or a Plowden/Clothworkers one, not both.

If you have any queries just get in touch.

Download the application form below:

Please note that you must apply in good time: it usually takes us four weeks to consider applications and we will not award a grant if the course or conference has already taken place. So please plan ahead, be aware of our application deadlines and apply to us sufficiently in advance of the conference or course you wish to attend.

The Anna Plowden Trust's grants for CPD complement those offered by Tru Vue in association with Icon.