Residents at Cardonald’s Nazareth house can now put their feet up in style, after a participant in the Galgael Trust’s ‘Navigate the Future’ programme donated a solid oak chair and footstool to the care home.

Billy Gray, from Govan, made the furniture from recycled native wood in two weeks as part of the Trust’s 20-week programme, at their Fairley Street workshop in Ibrox. At the end of the programme, participants receive a Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) in woodworking, accredited by Cardonald College, helping them build a CV or simply their self-esteem.

Billy, a joiner for 16 years and 11 weeks into the programme, chose the Cardonald care home because his wife Lorraine Gray works there as a Senior Carer.

He told the LOCAL NEWS that he was pleased with the finished article, adding that wood was a great and a therapeutic medium to work with.

Sister Veronica, of Nazareth House, said, ‘You can see a lot of work and thought has gone into it. We’ll be delighted to see the residents and possibly a few staff – enjoying it. He’s done a great job in two weeks. It’s terrific on a number of levels.’

Galgael’s Seumas MacKinnon told the LOCAL NEWS, ‘I’m just proud that one of our participants has contributed to the community in this way, and we’re proud that someone we’ve trained has produced something of this quality. Billy has been a very successful participant in the programme and I hope he goes from strength to strength.’

Seamus emphasised that the Trust’s ‘door is never closed’, and that they were happy to take back participants in the programme as volunteers.