Newsletters 2010

  SKILLWAY NEWSLETTER
December 2010

In translation, a Swahili proverb reads: ‘If birds travel without co-ordination, they beat each other’s wings.’  Since 1997 when the Skillway project began ‘co-ordination’ has been one of the main elements of its survival and still remains so today.  This ‘co-ordination’ is not just an internal administrative issue but one which involves everybody from Trustees to staff and volunteers, from schools to students, from sponsors to a sympathetic public.  So we think it very important to begin this Newsletter by thanking everybody for their continued wonderful, generous and loyal support; without you Skillway would not be able to operate let alone exist!  Thank you for all that you do for us and especially in your shared belief that a project like ours can make a big difference not only to individual students but to society as a whole.

Often the autumn or Christmas term is considered a testing one: the longest term of the year, new batch of students, new syllabus, inclement weather, shorter days, coughs and colds and the impending turmoil of Christmas preparations!  However, despite some of the ‘semi-negatives’ mentioned above, we have had another good and prosperous term.  Our number of students has been slightly less compared to last term but fortunately we do see an increase for the new year and back to our normal intake of just over forty.  We were pleased to welcome the return of Steve Parry (volunteer) from his annual summer leave and as a result of our promotion and advertising campaigns, we were delighted to recruit four new volunteers.

The cold snap at the start of December brought much National disruption and Surrey had its fair share of snow and school closures.  Except for one day of that week, the workshops remained open even for one particular student who braved the elements and struggled into work!  As roads began to clear and small numbers began to return, attention in the workshops was diverted from the syllabus to building toboggans, and what better place to test them than on the slopes of the Cemetery until disapproving scowls from a local resident meant a sheepish retreat led by our Workshop Manager!  The readjustment and installation of more efficient heating in the workshops last year paid dividends in the January winter of this year, so it has proved again recently.  In line with Health and Safety regulations, we are now 100% complete with all necessary ‘signage’, emergency safety lighting and synchronised fire alarms thus making the buildings safer.  Earlier this term Laurence Newman (volunteer) showed us his prototype ‘wheelbarrow trailer’ attached to a bicycle to assist the mobility of materials.  Built at little cost, this concept which would enhance the lives of many in third world countries could be a project for both Skillway and Transaid to consider.

We are most grateful to The Rotary Club of Godalming for their generous funding of a radial drill, a floor standing drill, a bench mounted drill and a dust extractor fan to replace old equipment in the workshops.  We are also exceedingly grateful to Godalming Woolsack for a sizeable grant towards a new metal lathe and materials required for other departments which we hope will be delivered shortly and ready for next term.  For many years our tutors have ‘made do’ with second-hand equipment, what a difference it makes to have new machinery!

Our networking and PR continues well and has led to some very encouraging results.  We are particularly pleased and grateful to the Rotary Club of Guildford who have ‘Sponsored a Student to Skillway’ – a concept we have been trying to develop which we believe provides sponsors the opportunity of seeing how their money is being spent by tracking their student’s progress.  This scheme also throws up the opportunity for sponsors to become more integrated and involved with our work.  (Should anybody require further information about our scheme, please contact us at our office: 07780 029486).  We have had good coverage in The Surrey Advertiser with photographs and articles, and in one particular issue, a marvellous full-page spread centered round interviews with two of our students.  We have even attracted the attention of Eagle Radio (listening audience of about 160,000) on Elizabeth Williams’ programme Hidden Surrey involving interviews with staff and students.  After some negotiations, we are very grateful to Sainsbury’s in Godalming for their offer of apprenticeship for our students in: butchery, fishmongery and bakery; we hope this will bear fruit since Skillway would like to get more involved with local businesses providing such schemes.  In mid September an evening of ‘Proms in the Park’, sponsored by Hart Brown Solicitors and organised by Joy Poulter, was held at the Godalming Bandstand in support of Skillway.  We are very grateful to Joy and to the general public who attended the concert for their huge generosity.  In December we were able to meet with Shaun Parry-Jones, Rebecca White from Hart Brown and Joy Poulter at the Workshops to thank them for their support.

Recently we had a short visit from Sam Booker – our worthy winner of The Crispin Hill Award last term – who informed us that he was doing very well in his last year at school; in fact he is top of his class!  An excellent result!

We remain terribly grateful to a number of individuals, Trust Funds and organisations for all their support this term.  We are especially grateful for the legacy of the late Audrey Cade  –  a close and inspirational friend of Skillway for many years – The David Williams Trust, The Angus Lloyd Trust, Surrey Community Foundation, Surrey Chambers of Commerce, Aldro School and Noel Tomes and Mari Scholes of The Rotary Club of Godalming.

We would very much like to draw your attention to an important piece of news.  As from 20th December we are moving the Skillway Office from Crown Court, Godalming, to our Workshops in Deanery Road.  We very much look forward to our new office since being ‘on site’ will mean Vivien and myself will feel more directly involved with the organisation we represent and we will be ‘more on hand’ to support Greg and his staff.   We do hope you will come and visit us, have a cup of coffee  and take the opportunity to look round our workshops.  Parking will be restricted, so best leave your car at the bottom of the drive and walk up.  Our new address will be: Skillway Office, Skillway Workshops, The Old Chapels, Deanery Road, Godalming, Surrey GU7 2HP  Tel: 07780 029486.  We are grateful to our Trustees for supporting this move.

We are always looking out for volunteers who would like to join our team.  Should you be interested or know of somebody else, please contact Greg Bleach (Workshop Manager) 01483 414081.  There is no age limit apart from being over 18 years old and we are not concerned with official qualifications.  We are seeking volunteers who, quite simply, have a few spare hours a week, and who would like to pass their skills on to another generation in whatever practical field their interest lies.  We will supply all necessary materials for your needs.  You will be required to have a CRB check which we will arrange and pay.

As always, our huge and genuine thanks to our staff and volunteers for all their invaluable help and dedication – we do have the habit of having the best tutors!

We aim to produce a Newsletter at the end of each term.  We are always very happy to send you a copy if that is your preference otherwise to save costs each Newsletter is published on our website: www.skillway.org.uk   We do appreciate that not everybody has access to a computer so if you still wish to receive a hard copy by post, would you mind letting us know.

As this is being typed, the second round of seasonal snow has begun to fall and it is probably just as well that the term is coming to an end especially in view of the long-range forecast!  We do hope you have a very Happy Christmas and the opportunity of some rest before the start of the New Year.
 
Thank you.

Humphrey Davis, Vivien Gillman and Greg Bleach

 

July 2010

Wallowing in the heat and sunshine of this year's summer, how quickly one forgets that not so long ago we were in the grips of a very cold and severe winter.  Within six months we have swung from one extreme to almost another and very soon we will be seeing the onset of autumn and then back to winter.  Like the perpetual motion of the seasonal pendulum, so Skillway too swings from its highs to its lows and then back again but neither the highs nor the lows are ever too long to distract us from our objectives.

 

During the late autumn of last year, maintenance to the roof and to some of the windows in our workshops was carried out.  In addition, the driveway was re-surfaced and one section was re-landscaped to allow room for further burials, under the direction and costs of our landlords, Joint Burial Council.  In December, we were able to upgrade our heating arrangements before the cold weather arrived.  Two large portable heaters were purchased from generous funding and wall-mounted, electrical heaters were repositioned to give maximum benefit to those working below.  This proved very successful and saved us the additional expense of possibly hanging poly-carbonate ceilings.  Since then we have fitted fire alarms to all three workshops, rewired some of our lathes (thanks to Roger Shapley), replaced and increased the number of emergency signs so as to comply with fire regulations.

 

The number of students attending our courses has been very good this year; we aim for a minimum of forty provided we have enough volunteers.  Many projects have been completed and a number of students have achieved accreditation at OCN level.  The standard of project-work completed remains very impressive and has received high praise from many visiting guests.  We often take examples of work done by our students to promotional events and are frequently asked by public whether the material is for sale; sadly not!  For all their hard work, we believe all students should be able to keep their work and 'do with it what they will'; however it remains a great compliment to our pupils that their work is valued to the point that people want to buy their products!  We often receive enquiries whether we accept commissions but depending what is required, depends upon whether we accept or not; again such recognition as this is a huge 'feather in our cap' and places us on an encouraging footing.

 

In January a group of students and staff visited the construction site of the Hindhead Tunnel Project  where they were able to visit the northbound and southbound entrances.  Unfortunately we were not permitted to leave our minibus and tour the areas on foot nor were we permitted to enter into the tunnels but with our tour guide, we were more than able to get a good idea of what was going on and see what had been accomplished in this remarkable feet of engineering.  A slight detour upon returning to Godalming saw us making a short visit to a 'historic race car and engine build shop or garage' in Thursley.  For those students interested in mechanics, this was a 'treasure trove' of prestigious cars and engines.  In July another 'outing' was made with a guided tour from John Walshe of the Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton.  This was as excellent opportunity to understand timber framed construction of older houses, materials used and perhaps most importantly, to see and touch the forerunners of modern tools as used in our workshops today.  Having appreciated 'the old', John showed us round the 'modern' Gridshell building with its unbelievable shape and mesmerising wooden-frame construction; whatever one's own thoughts and tastes, the building is certainly thought provoking!  We are most grateful to John Walshe for giving his time freely and for organising the trip.  Our annual canoeing venture on the River Wey, Go-Kart testing at Dunsfold and fly-fishing in Shackleford went without any serious hitches.  Once again PC Pete Harris (qualified canoe instructor) and staff took a small party of students in our own home-built canoes and other borrowed ones for a summer's day paddle and picnic lunch.  The young ladies in the party excelled themselves not necessarily by their canoeing skills but by overcoming the prospects of getting their hair wet with dirty water; in fact by the end of the trip they were more intent upon capsizing the canoes and 'dunking' each other in the river - the boys kept well away!  Our enormous thanks again to Pete Harris for such an enjoyable time.  Dunsfold....roar of engines....smell of petrol and exhaust....squeal of tyres....big egos....boy racers....the stuff of young men in the shadows of Top Gear's studio!  Where were Clarkson and the others?  Two days were spent putting our refurbished Go-Karts to the test but not without re-tuning, repairing and modifying strained engines in our makeshift pit-stop.  Speed trials, spinning, skidding, burst tyres and driving flat out set the adrenalin coursing through veins until time ran out.  And all action caught on camera and camcorder by Messrs Tom Harding and Phil Kemp - our grateful thanks to them.  Fly-fishing, introduced to the students last year for the first time, took place this year at the Aldro school lake.  Having been well assured there were plenty of trout to be caught, the fish had decided to make themselves scarce upon our arrival.  Despite the low cloud cover and strong wind, a few minutes of coaching from Jon Taylor and guest Geoff Marshall, soon saw the students eagerly casting on to the water in high anticipation of 'landing' a good catch, but the fish 'wouldn't play ball'!  We are very grateful to the Headmaster, David Aston, for allowing us to use the lake.

 

Open Day on a sunny, hot Saturday 17 July was very well attended.  Displays of work and photographs were exhibited in all three workshops. Some students gave up their Saturday morning at home to give demonstrations of their skills and to be on hand to answer questions from our visitors.  The morning was highlighted with a presentation from Greg Bleach to Jenny Bell upon her retirement of a bouquet of flowers and a slate paperweight with her initials in gratitude for all her work at Skillway and Mrs Christine Hill presented Sam Booker with the coveted Crispin Hill Progress Award - a prize given by Greg Bleach and his staff to an aspiring student.  It was good to welcome back old Skillway friends and to have the chance to meet many new faces interested to know what Skillway was all about.  New offers were made for assistance with the project and a few enquiries from prospective parents.  A good result!

 

We have had another good year of visitors and have kept staff and students busy on their toes in the workshops!  We have been very pleased to have been invited to talk at a number of meetings and we have continued to have had good exposure in the Surrey Advertiser, courtesy of Joanna Till.  We remain busy networking and promoting Skillway wherever possible.  We were especially grateful to the Guildford Choral Society earlier this summer for dedicating their door collection and profits to Skillway on their delightful 'Music for a Summer's Evening' concert; to an evening of drinks in the magnificent gardens of the Roundhouse, Loxhill in aid of Skillway and to many events organised by Aldro School -  Skillway being one of two charities they are supporting this year.

 

We receive many comments and letters of encouragement throughout the year from people we know and from those we have never met before.  Not so long ago I received a letter from a lady whose grandson was at Skillway a few years' ago; she wrote that his two terms with us were his happiest 'educational days', that his time at Skillway renewed his confidence and that he is now working hard and running his own business.  How appropriate is one of Skillway's banner-lines for him: 'Can Do'.  We were more than touched by two local twelve year old boys who, sharing a joint birthday party, asked their friends not to give them presents but to donate money for Skillway - they raised a substantial amount!  We were delighted that a certain family trust fund agreed to sponsor a 'home educated' student to Skillway for two terms; that a family whose father was a volunteer member of staff had a collection at his funeral for Skillway where he had spent a number of very happy teaching; a lady who held a 'sale of skills' on an important birthday - money raised going to Skillway.  The list is endless.  We can draw upon many more examples of huge generosity from many individuals - all just as moving and encouraging.  We remain extremely grateful to everybody's huge generosity and goodwill, to the many individuals both loyal supporters and members of the public and to the number of institutions, organisations, businesses and trust funds who help us with funding especially during these difficult financial times.  Your wonderful support is genuinely cherished by us and a positive signal that we are a valued, worthwhile charity.

 

Our dedicated staff under the management of Greg Bleach and his assistants Jon Taylor and Richard Jeffrey continue to impress in so many ways.  All our 'volunteer' staff interact with our students magnificently, they pour upon them their own enthusiasm for practical learning, teach those skills so vital for our students' in life skills, invoke motivation and confidence and in turn give them hope that 'success can lead to success'.  Thank you for all the huge time and effort you give to Skillway.  My enormous thanks also to Vivien Gillman, our Fund Raiser, for her enormous optimism, help in the office and for the hours spent combing and applying for funding - we owe her so much!  Finally, sincere thanks to our Trustees under the chairmanship of Dr Chris Jagger for their confidence and guidance in the work we do.

 

Please do visit our website: www.skillway.org.uk for further news, reports, photographs and dates.

 

Humphrey Davis,

Director