London School of Furniture Making

The London School of Furniture Making was set up by Helen Welch, our head instructor, in 2013. Helen wanted to share her skills as a professional maker and teacher of over thirty years with Londoners who don't have the time or inclination to join a full-time or year-long course. Leaving school mid-A-levels gave Helen the opportunity to try something less academic but equally fulfilling and challenging; that was woodworking in all its incarnations. During a career spanning forty years she has converted houses, built furniture, worked in woodlands and made guitars.She has taught furniture making at several FE colleges, privately run institutions and London Metropolitan University. She is one of online course provider Domestika's expert instructors, and in 2024 she spent a month teaching at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bogotá, Colombia. You might also recognise her from her stint as a judge on Channel 4's Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker - Series 1.Her enthusiasm for woodworking and teaching has only grown stronger with age; she loves bringing new people to the craft and watching them fall in love with making.