Our course program is for wheelchair users with Spinal Cord Injury aged over 18. The course is led by people with an SCI – allowing participants to learn from others who have been there and can understand the issues and challenges.
You’ll learn basic carpentry, cutting and shaping timber, and making basic carpentry joints and items from wood. Using the skills learned, products can include picture frames, jewellery boxes, tables, chair repairs or other household items. You will also learn about the “safety” of using hand tools and become competent and confident.
Here are some joints you will learn how to craft and make use of during the course:
What does the program include?
Here are a few of our course units:
The Scope and Nature of Carpentry
Understanding Wood, types of wood.
Carpentry Tools, Equipment, Materials & Safety
Hand Tools - saws, hammers, chisel drills, planes, screwdrivers, safety in tools use, maintenance, and storage.
Cutting and Joining Timber
Ways of cutting wood. Types of joints - edge, butt, angled, mitres, framing, dovetail, tenon, etc.
Small Carpentry Projects
Making items, e.g. picture frames, jewellery boxes, kitchen roll holders.
Handyman Repair Work
Mending household items, e.g. small side tables.
Planning and Setting Out a Project
Working out quantities, measuring up, drawing plans/drawing instruments.
About the course
Get the exact results you want
The BCJ Foundation program may also appeal to people who wish to get a taste of carpentry to go on to further training. The skills development will be at the City and Guilds level, and depending on your progress, there may be an opportunity to achieve this certificate.
Our education and training program will include:
Safety training before the use of carpentry tools.
Observation and assessment.
A range of carpentry skills units accredited through City & Guilds.
Don’t be shy, get involved! This is an excellent opportunity to socialise, network and develop a skill.
About the Founder
CEO, BCJ Foundation
James Blyden is a professionally qualified carpenter with over 35 years in the industry. He is highly skilled in using a variety of electrical and hand tools such as saws, drill sanders and techniques to create custom pieces. He has been responsible for reading and interpreting blueprints of designs to bring the designer's vision to life. He has worked on construction sites, in workshops and client homes. During the latter part of his career before suffering a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), he became a carpentry teacher in further education, after completing a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at the University of Wolverhampton, and the teaching role complemented and enhanced his skills. The course he taught offered workshops specifically focused on woodworking and carpentry. These ranged from basic skills to more advanced techniques as part of the wider industrial carpentry skills program.
After his SCI, he recognised that it might not be possible to return to his job, so he focussed on how he could use his carpentry skills, honed over several decades, to his advantage. While in rehabilitation at Oswestry, he considered how he could keep himself active and, at the same time, help others with an SCI. This led to the concept of carpentry for wheelchair users, and he has been building the community interest company (CIC) and design marketing tools since.