Carving Out Confidence: How Finn Found His Place at the Garden

When Finn first came to RCG two months ago, he was looking for something meaningful to do. As part of the HYPE programme for young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs), funded by Bristol City Council, he was introduced to the Woodworking Group and quickly found his place.

'Cher was the person which actually when I first ever came in, she showed me around places, she introduced me to Barrie [Woodworking Session Practitioner] and then on my first week of actually coming and doing the woodwork, she was like, right, this is Finn everyone. Then everyone got to meet me and then Barrie knew that I was good with tools from my experience in woodwork. You're just doing it and doing it, and me and Cher and Barrie was all talking, so it’s all just nice. And then Cher mentioned oh you could do the volunteer work here. I was like, all right, let me see how l go for another couple of weeks. Not long after that, I'm here volunteering!'

Finding his stride in woodworking

Finn already had some experience with carpentry, both at college and at home with his dad. But he soon realised the approach at RCG was very different from what he’d experienced before.

'[Working with Barrie] is fun. It's relaxing. And there's no actual pressure. If you make a mistake people say oh we'll take that out and then we'll try doing it this way or that way or he’ll show me. And then, I'll take that apart and then you do it. It just makes it easy and more comfortable than in college.'

At college, he explained, things felt much stricter:

'[In college] it's stressful. Everything needs to be like, right first time or it’s just a massive deal. Here, it's like oh, you did this wrong? Well next time we'll do a different way, or we could do a different way now, it’s up to you. You’ve got options. [At College] it’s really strict, here it’s really relaxed. Everyone talks to you, everyone’s nice and it’s just nice to be here.'

Whilst Barrie's presence and encouragement were key, Cher’s welcome and sense of humour also helped Finn settle in:

'As well, with Cher, she's not like oh, this is wrong, that's wrong, she'll like actually come in and have a laugh and a joke like everyone does and it's just, oh maybe do this, maybe do that... And if Barrie or Cher does something, which you could think could be changed and you’re like, oh, maybe do this or that. And they're like, yeah alright I'll give it a try and then sometimes it’ll work, sometimes it won't. It’s just saying, I'll try different ways.'

Supporting others

As Finn became a regular face in the Woodworking Group, he naturally began offering support to others - particularly participants from Step and Stone, who have learning differences.

'Sometimes [the young adults with learning differences] just need like an extra... Maybe do it like this, or you gotta show them how to do it. Then they get it and it's just like nice, cos when they come in it’s like oh, hi, how are you, blah blah blah. How was your weekend? And it’s just like a full conversation. Like it's nice, it’s not just hi and that’s it, it's like an actual full conversation.'

He recalled a moment helping one of the attendees:

'The ones I work with they're a couple years older than me. Even though I'm younger than them by a few years, they're like, oh yeah, we'll do this or it's like today, when I was working with this person who was sanding a box I said to him, look try it like this, and I showed him. He was doing it in two or three minutes, he was just like a natural, just going amazing. And then later me and him were painting planters together and it was just nice.'

Learning and creating

Finn has since worked on a wide range of carpentry and maintenance tasks around the Garden, often side-by-side with Barrie.

'Barrie's taught me things which I didn't know. We've done a bunch of stuff together, like we fixed stuff in the canopy, we’ve fixed stuff all over the garden. Me and him built the rose box which is over there.'

Together, they’ve also created planters for the community. Finn enjoys the balance of independence and support he gets while working on these projects:

'We make different types of planters for people that send an order to whoever it goes to, then they’ll tell Barrie and Barrie’s like right, we need this and that done. Then you can go do what you need to do on the planters and if you need something just come back and ask. It’s like freedom in a way.'

And unlike other places, Finn loves seeing his work appreciated and put to use:

'It's nice to do as well, you know, in any other place, you'll go there, you’ll build something, and then once it's done, it'll just be kind of like put away and you’ll never see it again. You come here, you build it and it's like out on show for everyone. Even like the small jobs me and Barrie do like fixing the floor, moving the fridges around, like even though no one's seen us do it, we know it's been done. We know we can just look and think right, I did that. Like I did that. And we know that's fine. It’s nice.'

Growing confidence and community

For Finn, the volunteering process at RCG was welcoming and accessible:

'It's so much easier because if you go anywhere else and be like oh I want a volunteer as this and that, and they’ll be like yeah but you need experience and then you can’t get that experience. Here it's just like, I want to do this and like, we'll get you a form to fill out and I'll just make sure your details are right, and then they'll get back to you in a few weeks or so. And it’s just easier than going to any other place.'

He also reflected on how difficult it is to pursue carpentry through formal education routes:

'It's hard to actually get jobs now [in carpentry] because you need 4s in [GCSE] Maths and English and all that. But if you come here you're like oh I want to do the volunteer work for carpentry, you've got Barrie who will teach you how to do everything.'

But beyond skills, Finn has found a sense of belonging at the Garden:

'When you come here, even if the people that talk to you aren’t working [in the workshop], they’re like hi, you alright, how’s your day? And it's nice as well because you get all the people that's in wheelchairs. They like they come in and you see them still living how everyone else is living; there's no difference between us and them.'

'Everyone’s friendly. It's nothing like, oh, you have this wrong with you… It’s just like oh, do you need some help with going from this place to this? Or do you need me to get this for you? Or do you want me to close this? They're like, yeah, if you can please. I'm like, yeah, it's fine. So it's all just nice and it’s all just friendly. And there’s like zero worries at all, like that someone's gonna come in and say do this or that, it's all just like when people come in, they're like, oh, you alright, get a drink or whatever, sit down and it's nice.'

And when asked if Barrie was approachable, Finn’s answer spoke volumes about the wider community at RCG:

'Yeah! But so is every single person here, even if you don't know them. It's like, oh, do you know where this place is? Where does this go? And you go back to them, thank you for that. It’s so much easier. Everyone's just easy to go up to. It’s just relaxing and nice to come in and see everyone be happy.'

We’re so grateful to Finn for sharing his story. His journey shows how a welcoming community, patient mentorship and opportunities to share skills can open new paths for young people. From participant to volunteer, his experience beautifully reflects what Redcatch Community Garden is all about: support, growth and connection. Thank you Finn and Liz for your time and energy in reflecting this so beautifully! 💚 Our Woodworking Group is part of the Climate and Disability strand of the Community Climate Action Project coordinated by the Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership, funded by the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund.