Tanya Bollen, our Business Intelligence Performance Manager recently visited The Woodshed to see what they’ve been up to since gaining £3,850 funding last year from the Pobl Trust.
The Woodshed is a previously abandoned brick building that was in very poor condition located on the grounds of St Cadoc’s hospital in Caerphilly. Nathan and Kevin from the Aneurin Bevan Health Board applied for funding from Pobl Trust to help them repurpose one of the old, outer buildings. Their aim was to turn it into a workshop where residents living with mental ill health and recovering from difficult life events could go to get creative.
Since it started, residents have been finding new skills and purpose in the creation of articles they can take with them to their own homes when they move on. They’ve also had many old items donated for upcycling too.
The funding from the Trust paid for many of the new tools needed to outfit the workshop and it’s been in near constant use since Nathan and his team first requisitioned it.
Initially, the building was in very poor shape and full of old junk having been used by the hospital in years gone by as a storage area. By the time Tanya visited though, redecoration was well underway and some of the residents’ work was already on display. Tanya said:
These amazing guys work at St Cadoc’s Hospital at the inpatient rehabilitation unit for men, where many will have experienced poor mental health and extremely difficult life events. The Woodshed will build their confidence and skill set to enable them to transition back into the community.
NOTE: No sound on your PC? Click the square with dots in it on the bottom-right of the YouTube video for subtitles.
