Metal works

I have recently worked for 6 weeks with metal sculptor, Steve Hutton, taking a deep dive into his world of art, metal and machinery. My goal was to be able to make lamps out of scrap motorbike parts,on my own.

I first made a box out of aluminum and rivets, followed quickly by my first lamp created out of a brake plate and two sprockets. I then fixed a table for Steve adding a lower shelf as instructed. This all takes much more planning and accuracy than I'd imagined, but I've really enjoyed the steep learning curve. I started collecting disused motorbike parts, cleaned them up and then let my creativity run wild. I put pieces together and saw what looked inspiring, then I began grinding and welding. After the second week I had a finished piece, it was made of a brake disc, two gear cogs and a suspension spring. I really like the look of my first lamp so have decided to keep it !

The Road

"The Road" is an all boys group that teaches skills and knowledge helping the participants to navigate through adolescence into manhood. Aaron, an ex-social worker from England in his early twenties runs this group and has invited me to be his assistant. We hold two 2 hour sessions every week and I'm always energised after each meeting. It's been very helpful being a young man myself, allowing me the time to question topics we are focused on, with the younger boys. We speak about masculinity and how society sees men nowadays and what we identify as being a man. It's been so good helping facilitate this inspiring course and it's something I wish I'd had access to at their age. The 2 age groups we run are 10-12 and a 15-16 and they have really helped me develop an emotional empathy for others and my listening and patience are much improved!

Rock Choir

In 2018 I had a one week internship at Rock Choirs head office. Rock choir is a 28,000 member national community choir in England. Some office experience would be a real change for me as I had never even been in an office. I got to shadow everyone, firstly in the media department, then the human resources hub and I even spent an hour with the accountant which convinced me it was not the path for me.

The most interesting was their event management department as they are involved in many high profile shows and flash mobs including the FA cup Final and major TV show performances . It was a great experience and I learnt how every job in an office is important, but also how they interlink with one another creating a cohesive front. Learning how to make the most cups of tea I'd ever made in one day is super memorable Overall I learnt some useful skills and got an overview of how a business runs. I imagine this will be of use to me in the future.