Last week saw another of our popular one-week introductory courses.

They’re designed to give students a taste for woodworking and raise their DIY skills.

But for some, it also allows them to decide if a career in fine woodworking might be for them.

One student who is considering just that is Simon Schilgen from Heidelberg in Germany.

He’s an artist with Scottish Ballet in Glasgow, and has been with the company for some five years.

Previously, he trained in Germany and was a dancer with companies in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Essen.

But professional ballet dancing is not a career that can be pursued forever.

Through a fund to help dancers find career development, Simon’s introductory course fees were paid for by the charity.

He wanted to explore another artistic avenue for when he finally hangs up his dancing shoes, and woodworking may be his chosen path.

The good news is that, in one more year, he could qualify with the charitable fund to have his professional course fees paid for at the Chippendale school.

The other good news is, if he does come to us again, his introductory course fees will be deducted.

Simon was the first ballet dancer on any of our courses, and we hope he decides to study with us again in the future.

Note: Two places still remain for our nine-month professional course which starts next month.