Furniture Restoration Course at the Chippendale School

In a world of automation, we’ve never needed handcraft more

Although technology has made our lives easier in many ways, there are still some things it can’t replace – a treasured family heirloom, a handcrafted piece of furniture and a one-of-a-kind artwork will always spark a joy that mass-produced pieces cannot match.

The Covid-19 lockdown period also introduced a new wave of people to the joys of making things by hand – the UK’s largest craft retailer, Hobbycraft, saw the numbers of people visiting the ‘ideas’ page on their website triple since lockdown began. We have seen an influx of enquiries about our cabinet courses of all levels too which is extremely exciting for our age-old craft.

A current student’s story: Fran Bullinger

We hear from current student Fran Bullinger about her experience of studying at the Chippendale School so far.

How we have crafted a woodworking community

At the Chippendale School, we pride ourselves on our family values. The school building and workshop was even built on the site of the family home by founder and former principal Anselm Fraser, who has now passed down the role of principal to son Tom Fraser.

Since we opened our doors in 1985, we have welcomed more than 500 students from over fifty countries around the world and now boast a global community of woodworkers.

How to run a sustainable furniture business

Sustainability should be an essential part of any business plan. With the ongoing climate emergency, woodworkers and furniture makers should be joining in the collective effort to go greener – but sustainability is also about creating a business that will last while benefitting its community, staff and customers.  

Jamie Wemyss is a former Chippendale School student, and since graduating he has created JMW Furniture, a successful business with sustainability at its heart. We spoke to Jamie to find out how aspiring woodworkers and furniture business owners can craft the most sustainable business model.

Top schools for alternative education

It’s well-known that some conventional routes into education just aren’t right for everyone. If you’ve mostly enjoyed marching to the beat of your own drum rather than toeing the conventional lines, you might find yourself looking for alternative pathways to further and higher education.

How to change career in mid-life

Life’s unexpected twists and turns force us out of our comfort zones. Due to the current global health crisis, millions of people are left feeling like life is on hold through lockdown, furlough, and new-found home working.

If you’ve been spending recent days and weeks pondering what to do with your time and in the months after lockdown, a career change is likely to have crossed your mind.