Carving out a career – The Wee Whittler

As the Cairngorms Youth Local Action Group Fund opens again for applications, we caught up with Callum Morrison – aka The Wee Whittler – from Deeside who successfully applied to the fund last year. Here he talks about how the fund enabled him to pursue his passion and map out a career in woodworking.

It all started during the Covid pandemic a few years ago when I was given a wood-whittling kit for Christmas. On walks with my family, I’d pick up fallen branches from a variety of types of trees and take them home. With the whittling kit, I made Harry Potter wands and other things such as a jewellery box. I really liked to see how different each type of wood was to work with and the effects each one gave when made into a finished object.

I continued working with the whittling set and quite quickly felt that I needed my own space to work outside of the house. An old shed was available in Ballater for free and my dad and I went to collect it. I fitted out the interior of the shed myself in our garden, it gave me a great sense of achievement and it meant I had my own workshop where I could spend more time on woodwork. I came up with a name for myself – The Wee Whittler – and I am in the process of setting up an Etsy account to sell some of my crafts.

Over the weeks and months, I continued my hobby of making things like candle holders, toadstools, Xmas trees etc whilst looking at what I might want to do next. I had the opportunity to use a lathe in school which I really enjoyed. I started watching videos online about what can be made using lathes and knew I would like to have one. Soon after that, I heard about the Cairngorms Youth Local Action Group Fund through my role as a Cairngorms National Park Junior Ranger and I decided to apply. It was easy to make the application, and I was delighted when they contacted me to say I’d been successful.

I received funding for two things, to buy a lathe and to learn about different types of wood and their uses in woodworking. I did a lot of research before buying the lathe and eventually found the right one for me in Inverness. Learning about different types of wood and their uses in woodworking came from a variety of different woodworking experts in the community who have been really supportive. The people at Tor in Braemar invited me to their workshop and shared their woodworking knowledge with me which has been so valuable. I also joined the Grampian Woodturners Association. I am by far the youngest member, most of the people there are retired, and they have shared their many skills and years of experience with me.

Over the past year, I became certain that a woodworking career is what I want to do. I am still at school and have started a NAT4 Foundation Apprenticeship in Construction Craft at North East Scotland College one day per week. I also do work experience one afternoon per week with a local joinery company who have expertise in making bespoke furniture, staircases, windows etc. When I leave school, I hope to do an apprenticeship in joinery. Woodwork is a skilled craft and one that I know I want to work in.

In quite a short space of time, and with a lot of work which I’ve really enjoyed, my woodworking hobby has transformed into a clear path for me when I leave school.  The funding I received to buy a lathe and learn more about wood has been so valuable in giving me the knowledge and experience I needed to develop my hobby which I now want to make into my career.

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The Cairngorms Youth Local Action Group Fund is supported by the Cairngorms Trust with funding from the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

Applications are open until Monday 4 November 2024 for people under the age of 30 or for people or groups who work with young people in the Cairngorms National Park.

Find out more about the fund and criteria and apply on the Cairngorms Trust website.