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Woodwork Training Project at NORMAN WOOD FARM

The project is housed in the barn furthest away in the picture (the roof has now been replaced!)

The Woodwork project embraces the vision and ethos of Good News Family Care. The aim is to raise the skill levels and self-esteem of the people we work with. Currently the focus is on making garden furniture and planters. These are constructed from timber donated by a local builders merchant. The intention is to sell the furniture and plough back the proceeds to enable the work to continue. How It Began Almost from the very beginning of Good News Family Care it was envisaged that a project like this would form part of the ministry. But it wasn't until March 2005, when Tearfund offered their support, that the idea became a reality. Tearfund generously agreed to fund a project worker for two and a half days a week, to work with clients, setting up and running a woodwork skills training project at Norman Wood farm. Matthew Preston, (pictured with wife Maia) who is on the maintenance team at Charis House, readily accepted the challenge of becoming Project Worker and now shoulders much of the responsibility for making it all work. With the help of his GNFC colleagues he put together a business plan and within a few months clients started accessing the project. Matthew said he felt as if "a whole new door of opportunity" had opened. We soon encountered our first problem however. One of the agencies who fund GNFC had concerns over Health and Safety at the farm and in the Spring of 2005 we had to stop taking clients there. It was a devastating blow for staff and clients who were bitterly disappointed. To make matters worse, Matthew damaged his hand in machine saw accident. "It was ironic," said Matthew, "I was working on a fence at the time - to prevent people from hurting themselves!" Despite the set-backs, the Farm Team persevered and in August 2005 began renovating one of the derelict barns, to provide a base for the project. The walls needed partially rebuilding (see picture) and the roof - rather what was left of it - had to be completely replaced. Within two weeks the team had covered approximately a third of the roof with corrugated roofing material and by October the building was operational. This had a positive impact on staff and client morale - not to mention the improvement it made to workspace capacity on wet days! Since then, a chipboard floor has been laid, covering three-quarters of the floor area. Prior to that, whenever anyone dropped anything it would fall between concrete lintels into the black abyss of the under-floor slurry tank! Mercifully the tank had not been used for its intended purpose for many years. "It was half full of water 'though," laughed Matthew "if you dropped a tool you'd have to fish around for it with a magnet!" (Yes, that did happen!) The team also completed a smaller, but equally important, project. In the Spring of 2004 we were given a large wooden greenhouse measuring 18 feet by 10 feet. It took 40 hours to dismantle the structure and carefully transport it to its new home at the farm. Now, a little over 2 years later, it is fully functional once again. Things take time, but we get there in the end! Health and Safety At the end of January 2006 a farm inspector from the Health and Safety Executive gave the 'thumbs up' to the measures we had put in place abd clients were able to resume access to the project. Health and Safety is an on-going issue, of course, so we continually strive to make improvements. Five men have attended the project so far (at the time of writing). Two more have shown interest but have not actually made it to the farm yet! Several others - male and female - are 'thinking about it'. Please pray for these young people. (they would benefit so much it if they gave it a try!) We have seen such positive changes in those who have attended. The realisation that physical work can be very rewarding - especially when it's in the beautiful countryside of the Goyt Valley - seems to go hand-in-hand with a heightened sense of self worth. Perhaps the fresh air and lovely surroundings help them to gain a new perspective on life? Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: as these young people enjoy the work and gain confidence in their 'practical' abilities and in handling tools and materials, they get that much closer to realising the potential that God has placed within them. Finally, we are pleased to report that we have made our first sale: a wooden garden 'planter'. Although a small sum of money, it 'squares the circle' that will enable us to achieve our goals - seeing people develop in the image of Jesus Christ and living a full and rewarding life. If you would like to see some of the things we've made at the project, why not take a look at our 'Online Catalogue'.

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