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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/mens-sheds-mental-health-woodworking-therapy/>
"In 2002, Chris Morgan lost his wife to cancer. A British army veteran who had
put in 24 years of service as a gunner in the Royal Artillery, he was already
struggling with PTSD when she passed away, and the grief from the loss
triggered a breakdown. In despair, Morgan contemplated taking his own life.
Instead, Morgan retreated to his shed, the typical six-foot-by-four-foot space
you’d find in most British gardens. He began, as he describes it, “pottering
around with bits of wood.” He didn’t have a specific project in mind, but
working with the wood allowed him to start processing both his grief and his
army experiences.
“It was my woodworking shed that was my safe place. And although I may not have
done too much woodworking, it was just being in there that I knew helped,”
Morgan shared on the podcast Men’s Sheds UK. “In fact, it saved my life.”
Little did Morgan know how his interest in woodwork would provide a lift to
other veterans also struggling with mental health issues. Volunteering at a
nature reserve in 2008, he held an impromptu spoon carving class for a group of
visiting wounded soldiers. The spontaneous seminar became a weekly workshop,
and ultimately evolved into a dedicated permanent woodworking seminar that has
been known as Veterans Woodcraft since 2016.
Based in North Yorkshire, Veterans Woodcraft has since expanded to offer formal
training courses, a training kitchen to teach cooking skills and a drop-in
cafe, as well as quiet areas to provide more formalized support to service
veterans with mental health issues, drawn, as Morgan was, to the therapeutic
nature of woodworking."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
