I have to confess that, even though I was extremely fortunate to have been given really good educational opportunities, I drifted through the last few years of school, assuming I’d just be going into the family business – life was ‘easy’, the future assured. Somehow though, I must have realised a little later that this was risky and went to night school. It was a good job I did.
The 1970s were not as rosy as I’d anticipated and the recession at the start of the 80s finished off any chance of survival for a furniture frame business with a few customers. So I ended up on the dole.
Education was the big key for me and now I believe helping people who are committed to it is very empowering, especially for those of us who see our role in life as a salary earner or entrepreneur.
I recently attended the Summer Show for the University College of London’s School of Architecture, known as The Bartlett. This was opened by Zaha Hadid, one of today’s leading architects. She said the help she received as a student gave her the impetus to achieve so much in her career.
The Bartlett is the UK’s largest school of architecture, where many of the teaching staff are practising architects. The Summer Show was full of the students’ ideas; many of them are typically outlandish (The Pataphysical Exceptions of Reflexive Architecture springs to mind!), but that mass of creativity makes such a change from everyday working life.
We’ve helped them out a little bit with some materials and, as we got to know more about the staff and all that they do, within an incredibly tight budget, we become engrossed. We’ve also found that by spending time alongside the team at The Bartlett we’ve probably gained more than they have in our understanding of the construction industry. We’d like to think that the link has possibly made a small contribution to the promotion of timber as well.
Have a look at their superb website, www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk or better still, like many other businesses, why not consider helping a local college in some way with their practical work – you could well learn something!
