Growing up, things were going well for Deano. He said, “I was incredibly lucky. I finished school, studied carpentry at college and started work straight away doing a job I genuinely enjoyed.”
It was an unfortunate accident at work which caused Deano’s life to take a turn for the worse.
In 2005 Deano fell from a roof while at work, and broke both his hips. As a child he’d had health problems after being born with crumbling hips. This accident proved too much for his body to cope with and he spent 18 months in a wheelchair.
As a result, Deano lost his job as a carpenter. This sent him into a deep depression, and for nearly seven years he struggled with his health problems and unemployment. He learned to walk again, however his hips never fully healed, so he was unable to return to full time work as a carpenter. He started taking medication to deal with his feelings of depression and began to look at other options.
He said, “I took a couple of courses and tried to learn about computers but because I’m dyslexic it just didn’t work out and didn’t lead to any jobs. The longer I stayed on disability benefit, the lower I felt.”
Deano decided he wanted to find a way back into carpentry and in 2010 he started to plan a business using his skills to make themed children’s furniture. He was inspired to come to The Prince’s Trust after seeing their logo on Blackburn’s football shirts, which proved to be a turning point in his life.
After taking part in the Enterprise programme, Deano was allocated a business mentor and a loan of £4000. This helped him to both secure premises and further investment to get Wooden Wonders off the ground in March 2012.
“Setting up my own business means my life can finally move forward. Now I split my time between building furniture and sitting down to do designing and paperwork which means I can manage my health issues. We’ve already secured so many orders that I’m also able to employ another joiner and a spraypainter on a part-time basis.”
If I hadn’t found The Prince’s Trust I’d still be stuck at home looking at a half completed business plan. Instead I’m doing something I love and providing for my family, it feels great.
Visit the website: www.woodenwondersni.co.uk
