Bognor Regis craft club is on a mission to combat loneliness

Formed last year, the Bognor Woodwork and Craft Club (BWACC) is devoted to fighting social isolation in our community, to giving those looking for somewhere to go a chance to learn new skills and make new friends.

The group meets at The Makerspace on Longford Road every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10am to 1pm, and, despite woodwork’s reputation as a ‘macho’ hobby, organisers are keen to make everyone feel welcome.

"It’s not just about woodwork and crafting,” said organiser Frank Hodder “The aim, really, is to provide facilities so that people can come in and be. If they want to do a bit of work for themselves, they can. If they want to help out, they can. But if they want to just sit down with a cup of tea and chat, they can do that too.

"We want to get it out there that everybody is welcome, anybody can come in.”

Although the group, which currently has around eight regular members, are not charging for the moment, there are plans to introduce a low membership fee to help pay for rent, tea and coffee.

Everything else though – from the wood, to the tools, to the facilities themselves – will be free, either donated, paid for by sponsorships or purchased from the proceeds of the group’s many projects.

For Mr Hodder, the club isn’t about making money. It’s about giving back to isolated members of the community who want to feel like they belong.

"This isn’t meant to be for skilled people. It’s for people who are isolated. If they have skills, that’s great. But they don’t have to. We had a chap coming in this morning who said ‘I can’t do any work work, I just want to have a coffee.’ And that was absolutely fine.

"There are people out there – especially older people – who have been locked away for a long time, especially after Covid, this is a place for them to come and be”.

To find out more about the club, visit their page on Facebook or Instagram or email [email protected]

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