A Practical Model of Social Enterprise in Action. Combining craft, collaboration, and real-world sales.

Ideas matter. Values matter. But change is most convincing when it is tested in the real world.

Alongside my work in lived experience, social impact, and risk-aware design, I’m involved in Woodcraft Adventures—a small, hands-on craft business that operates as a practical expression of this approach in action.

At its core, Woodcraft Adventures brings together craft, collaboration, and real-world sales. Each piece is designed, carved, finished, and sold within the constraints and realities of everyday life: time, cost, capability, customer expectations, and sustainability. There’s no abstraction here—only what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to be adapted.

This matters because many initiatives aimed at vulnerable or marginalised people fail at the point of implementation. They are well-intended, but disconnected from the pressures of delivery, markets, or shared responsibility. Woodcraft Adventures exists in that tension—where creativity meets structure, and where care must coexist with accountability.

The project is collaborative by nature. Decisions are shared. Roles are negotiated. Strengths and limits are acknowledged. That process mirrors the kind of environments I advocate for in social and community work—ones that are human, grounded, and realistic rather than idealised.

Importantly, this is not a hypothetical exercise. Products are sold. Customers choose, customise, and pay. Feedback is immediate and sometimes uncomfortable. Success and failure are visible. That exposure creates learning you cannot get from planning documents alone.

In that sense, Woodcraft Adventures is not separate from my broader work—it informs it. It sharpens questions about risk, sustainability, dignity, and participation. It reminds me that systems only matter if they can be lived in.

You can view this practical example in action here:

View WoodcraftAdventures.com Website

See more post about this project t or other small projects

• Small Project: Tip Shop Trolleys
• Small Project: $5 Bag Clothes
• Small Project: Starting a Rock Band (and Ending It Well)
• Small Project: Shoes That Fit
• Small Project: Free Bread, Shared