I am a self-employed woodworker with a private workshop based at Make CIC, situated in the North Docks. Make contracts me to teach a 'Beginners to Woodwork' 1-day class, which gives people a very rudimentary idea of how to assemble some relatively crude items using screws, drills and pallet wood or ply. It's a useful starting point for novices but the workshop set-up at Make does not allow us to take them beyond this and I'm regularly asked at the end of each class if there are more advanced courses they can attend. My answer is always the same... "one day, maybe. hopefully".

I would like to offer people the opportunity to learn how to use traditional hand tools, such as paring chisels, bench planes, block planes. Through the process of learning the craft myself using these beautiful hand tools, I learnt the value of making beautiful & sustainable items, as well as discovering a practice that combines creativity, mindfulness & fulfillment. I built a huge of amount of confidence in my own abilities by learning the craft and I would relish the chance to give the people of Liverpool an opportunity to experience the same thing.

My advanced woodworking courses would teach people the fundamentals of woodworking:

• Overview of the hand tools they are supplied with and the maintenance required to keep them sharp and effective.

• Selecting timber based on the characteristics of a particular piece of wood.

• Process involved in achieving a perfectly flat and true surface using a traditional bench plane,

• Process involved in achieving a beautifully detailed joint, such as a dovetail, wedged tenon or housing joint.

The aim at the end of the class is to give students confidence to be able to put these skills into practice, offer a guide on the best tools to get to achieve this and have a beautifully made item to take home to show off to their friends and family, such as dovetailed bookends or a small mitered wooden box.

Classes would take place at least once a month.