Those who can do - those who can't... are learning to DIY

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr. 16, 2012 - We're programmed to outsource. If you want a light switch wired in or a pipe unblocking, you will probably call an electrician or a plumber and brace for financial impact. But there's a small learning space called the Goodlife Centre in London’s Waterloo that is trailing a (self-wired) blaze to buck this trend of dependency.

Skills for life. Skills for living.

Taking control, having fun and learning a skill for life is the mantra at the Goodlife Centre. A spacious workshop studio nestled in Waterloo, the Goodlife Centre runs short and snappy DIY, decorating and home maintenance courses for anyone wanting to get their hands dirty.

If you are a total DIY beginner or just need to brush up on your techniques, then this is the spot to come to.

Make do and mend is not just for girls.

Seriously, it's 2012. DIY, decorating and home maintenance are no longer skills being passed down from father to son. We're all as helpless with a hammer as each other these days. True parity of the sexes achieved at last through the medium of coving. The glass ceiling finally shattered, when someone dropped the chisel. OK, I'll stop now.

But the point is really that the Goodlife Centre's DIY, Wood Work and Decorating courses are not just filled with sisters doing it for themselves. We’ve all moved on a bit now. The groups are mix of the sexes and ages and everyone seems to rub along together quite nicely. Hard not to when the person along the bench from you is armed with a powertool and not afraid to use it.

Co-counder, Alison Winfield-Chislett explains why the centre has resonated with Londoners:
"We're at the 'hard-end' of the make-do-and-mend culture. We're about the more basic needs of maintaining your home, losing your dependence on trades(wo)men for the small jobs around the home and saving up your hard-earned pounds for the big jobs. And there is an enormous about of satisfaction to be had from literally doing it yourself.”

Michelle Purse is writing on behalf of the Goodlife Centre, an independent learning space offering daytime, evening and weekend courses to  learn life skills in DIY, decorating, basic electrics, plumbing, tiling wood working, carpentry and furniture restoration.

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The Goodlife Centre is an independent learning space in London's Waterloo offering daytime, evening and weekend courses to learn life skills in DIY, decorating, basic electrics, plumbing, tiling wood working, carpentry and furniture restoration.