Note: This page is a work-in-progress. The applications are coming.Thanks!

The Centre for Fine Woodworking takes pride in carrying on the traditions of fine woodworking by offering the highest quality of tuition available. The school hosts some of the world’s most respected tutors and practitioners of the craft of woodworking.

Our tight-knit woodworking community reaches across Aotearoa/New Zealand as well as overseas and includes woodworking hobbyists, young trainees, people seeking a new career working in woodworking, and professional woodworkers.  

It is our aspiration to encourage and teach any student who has the interest and commitment to learn the design and craft of fine woodworking, and the perseverance to keep learning and perfecting their skills and abilities.

We know that financial considerations may curtail enrolments to our classes. So, for us to achieve our goal of making our classes accessible, we will be offering two scholarships.

Please note: At this time, the scholarships will be for course fees only. Travel, accommodation and transportation will be the responsibility of the student. We will continue to evaluate this as our scholarship fund grows.

We have a goal of offering a total of $15,000 in Scholarships over the next year:

• 4 x weekend classes

• 4 x 1 week class

• 2 x 2 week class

If you would like to help us achieve our goal in making these scholarships programmes successful, please check out our Scholarship Funding Page via the button below. We are incredibly grateful to our Friends of the School, and the generosity not only of funding, but of spirit in partnering with us for this endeavour.

Thorkild Hansen Scholarship Programme

We are proud to continue this programme that was originally created by Thorkild Hansen to preserve and pass on the time-honoured craft of fine woodworking to future generations. Thorkild’s wish was to see those that might not have had the opportunity to learn these skills receive this scholarship.

This scholarship is designed to provide the opportunity for a young person to find a positive way forward with a skill through fine craftsmanship just as Thorkild did.

Criteria for the Thorkild Hansen Scholarship:

·      Aged 18-25

·      Is a permanent resident in the Top of the South/Te Tau Ihu

·      Shows talent, determination and potential which is acknowledged and supported by others. This could be their technology teacher, tertiary education design/technology tutor, apprenticeship programme/employer from a woodworking- related trade/profession.

·      Able to commit to the full duration of the course

·      Enthusiasm

Selection process is based on Thorkild’s values of:

·      Absolute attention to detail

·      Working towards the highest level of craftsmanship

·      The ability to strive and drive to be the very best that you can be in terms of   skill and technique.

GENERAL MAKER’S SCHOLARSHIP

We have a wide diversity of students who come to the school. They all have at least one thing in common. A fascination and love of woodworking. We want to encourage that and enable passionate people to do more of what they love, without suffering financial hardship.  

We are starting up a new scholarship that is open to students of any age, living anywhere in New Zealand.

The Scholarships will be for our Short Course Programme, courses ranging from a weekend course to a 2-week course. Courses are strictly limited to 8 students therefore courses that are fully enrolled will not be available in the scholarship programme.)

Criteria for the General Maker’s Scholarship: :

• Some experience with fine woodworking

• Some kind of formal woodworking training

• A passion and commitment to excellence

• A dedication to learning and upskilling

• Able to commit to the full duration of the course

Selection process is based on:

• A portfolio of fine woodworking projects. Up to 6 pieces.

• A list of courses taken, if you have a website, or any other information that supports your experience level.

• A statement of your personal experience in fine woodworking, what it means to you, and which skills you’d like to work on given a chance.

• A list of Short Courses that interest you based on our Short Course Programme. (Please select courses that are not full)