Leo Winstanley founded Hand-i-Craft, based in Formby, after losing the ability to use his dominant hand and arm in a car accident. Now, it is a successful woodworking shop, stocking handmade items, finishes and accessories.
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00:00 Leo Winstanley founded Handy Craft based in Formby after losing the ability to use his
00:07 dominant hand and arm after a car accident. Now it's a successful woodworking shop stocking
00:14 handmade items, finishes and accessories.
00:17 I wanted to do something that was physical because I wanted to help with a physical kind
00:20 of recovery and also I like the kind of problem solving idea of learning to use a new skill
00:25 and having to learn to use my non-dominant hand. So I started with woodworking really
00:30 and that was it in my leaky garage just over there. Started making little things like tea
00:34 light holders and chopping boards and stuff and it kind of grew and the hobby then became
00:39 a bit of a small business a bit later on.
00:41 Preferring to work with reclaimed materials, Leo has even created his own conditioning
00:46 wax for wood.
00:47 You know I'm self-taught, I was learning off things like YouTube and vlogs and blogs and
00:51 that kind of thing and just kind of trying to absorb it all in. But as you say it really
00:55 did help with the kind of mental health side of things really because it allowed me to
01:00 feel worthwhile and functional and felt like I could be productive again and I kind of
01:06 lost those kind of feelings for a long period of time.
01:09 His YouTube channel has more than 12,000 subscribers and he says the maker community has been incredibly
01:15 supportive.
01:16 Very little out there what you might call disability woodworking. I was watching able
01:20 body makers if you like and then looking how could I adapt that to my own needs and I decided
01:25 really maybe documenting it on YouTube might be a way to kind of re-establish that bit
01:31 of confidence that I used to have.
01:33 Leo has kindly offered to teach me some woodworking skills which is no mean feat seeing as I'm
01:38 lacking in any kind of DIY skill whatsoever.
01:43 Let the sander do the work and you just let it go over. That's nice. Forward. That's it.
01:54 It'll raise up a little bit. That's it. Keep it down. Keep it down. That's it. And then
02:00 let's get off.
02:03 That comes away and that will at some point become a candle mould.
02:08 And here's the finished results. I'm just kidding of course. This is actually the garden
02:14 bench Leo created during the first episode of Channel 4's Handmade Britain's Best Woodworker.
02:20 His design took inspiration from the native red squirrels in his back garden.
02:24 It was filmed last summer and I can hand on heart say it was a once in a lifetime experience
02:32 and I absolutely loved every minute of being involved in it.
02:36 It started from a horrific experience. It genuinely did. And it's just nice to be able
02:43 to share these good news things that are happening and stuff because I know people go through
02:48 in life go through some horrible life changing events and there can be a bit of a light at
02:54 the end of the tunnel. It doesn't mean when you face a life changing event that's the
02:59 end of things but it might mean it's a change of direction if that makes sense.