A PLASTERER in Swindon who has spent decades mastering his craft is now teaching others who want to follow in his footsteps.
Jimmy Hyslop decided on a change of direction for his career after being hospitalised by Covid, but plastering was all he knew so it had to be related to that industry.
He realised that, apart from some college courses, the facilities which helped people learn the ropes of his profession are few and far between, so he set up a new training school in Wroughton.
Since welcoming his first trio of students to Athena Plastering in January, Jimmy has taught school leavers, ex-Honda employees, taxi drivers, and armed forces veterans.
The 50-year-old said: "I've been a plasterer all my life, ever since I started as a labourer at 16. There were no courses in those days, you had to go on a building site and get someone to show you if they had a bit of spare time.
"Becoming a teacher is like learning a different point of view, I'm enjoying it. It's opening doors for them and for me.
"There's high demand for plasterers and there's always going to be a need for them, but there's not enough teachers.
"My workshops start with the worst, messiest walls and work back up to the newly-refurbished ones, because if they can fix the worst, the rest are easy.
"There's no rush and, unlike working at someone's house, you can make mistakes and it doesn't matter. That's how people learn best, by seeing where they're going wrong, slow and steadt.
"Some are quicker at learning than others but everyone gets there in the end. Plastering has to be done quickly so it needs to be correct but here, there's
"They aren't plasterers at the end of the week but they have a good idea of what's required to do it and off they go into the world.
"I've had some success stories as people come back and thank me, which is nice."
The units at the Lower Bassett Down Workshops on Salford Road have space for three people at a time, with Jimmy providing a plastering demonstration before observing and offering one-to-one advice and guidance while his customers try their hand at it.
People have come from Oxford, Salisbury and Bristol to learn the tricks of the trade.
For more information or to book a week-long session, visit www.athenaplastering.co.uk or call 07917 863515.
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