Crafting Connections - Youth & Community

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Funded on
23 Mar 2026

To purchase a van to transport new and recycled materials to our workshop space at Blenheim Palace to use in projects with local young people and deliver completed work to enhance the local community.

£26,585 Raised of £26,516

22 Backers

100%

Our Delivery Report

Funded on 23 March 2026 | Delivered on 22 June 2026

£26,585

RAISED

22

BACKERS

187

DAYS TO FUND

BIGGEST PLEDGE

£11,257

From Anonymous

£2

MOST POPULAR PLEDGE AMOUNT

£10,000

DONATED

By West Oxfordshire District Council

7 planters delivered

West Oxfordshire District Council donated £5,000

6 Qualifications provided

6 People involved in project delivery

New item of equipment provided

1 New item of equipment provided

More about our impact

The environment

We have purchased a second-hand electric van and have delivered projects such as planters made from non-treated timber to local community settings and gardens to improve their green spaces and create spaces for the community to grow food locally.

Volunteering, jobs & education

We worked through a therapeutic and trauma-informed approach with 6 young people in Key Stages 3 & 4, including those with special educational needs and social, emotional and mental health needs, at risk of exclusion or not currently in education. Our practical sessions developed learning and workplace skills to promote further education and training, encouraging engagement in positive activities and improving wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem. During their sessions with us, all 6 young people have completed their Arts Award, a nationally-recognised qualification.

Activity, health and leisure

We delivered innovative and accessible woodworking and design sessions, with a focus on improving the lives of the people we work with. Our skill-based sessions developed knowledge and woodworking abilities to enhance interests and passions, nourishing a sense of community, belonging and purpose, and nurturing happy and healthy lives.

https://www.againstthegraincic.org.uk/

Therapeutically-led, making-based community projects and alternative provision for young people in West Oxfordshire

Working through a therapeutic and trauma-informed approach with young people in Key Stages 3 & 4, including those with special educational needs and social, emotional and mental health needs, at risk of exclusion or not currently in education.

Creating meaningful and fundamental change within the local community, delivering innovative and accessible woodworking and design sessions, with a focus on improving the lives of the people we work with.

Our belief is that every individual has unique character, much in the same way as the wood we work with. The timber we work with often contains knots, shakes or splits, often considered as imperfections. These can be caused within it’s growing process by external factors such as extreme weather or damage to it’s environment, resulting in it’s grain being interrupted, and needing to navigate the imperfection to continue it’s growth.

We understand people experiencing challenges whether this be caused by traumatic childhood experiences, mental illness or issues within education, where their growth and prosperity has been interrupted by external factors, in a similar way. They may require some support to navigate the ‘knot’ and re-establish their trajectory or ‘grain’. However, we view these ‘imperfections’ as celebrations of resilience and characteristics to be enhanced in order to continue to build their lives with optimism and possibility.

Much like people, trees hide these imperfections inside of them from the outside, moulding themselves to continue to function. However, by considering these ‘imperfections’ and applying time, effort and skill, they can be used to shape truly unique pieces of furniture, just as they can shape truly unique individuals. We aim to meet people where we find them, celebrating and enhancing their life experiences and focusing their resilience into creating work they are proud of.

Against The Grain deliver learning opportunities for young people, as well as inclusive skill-based sessions for the local community, working towards projects that can be shared and enjoyed in the environments they interact with in their daily lives, encouraging a sense of community, belonging and purpose, and nurturing happy and healthy lives.

Project Owner: Against The Grain Oxfordshire CIC The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.