Christopher Woolcock is reinvigorating Renaissance Rocking Horses so he can continue his work at a Philippines prison

Here, he has been passing on his knowledge of the traditional craft of woodworking, to around 20 male prisoners - some of whom are serving life sentences.

“I’ve probably spent over $100,000 on the prison, on the machines and the workshop - only the best machines,” Mr Woolcock told the Gazette.

This sum doesn’t account for the thousands he’s spent on flights (the cheapest return ticket he found was $325), and the $35 per week he pays to keep a residence a short distance from the prison. He’s now travelled to the Philippines on over 20 separate occasions.

“Theoretically over the last few years I’ve been living off capital,” said Mr Woolcock.

“I have a very strong Christian faith and I think some prisoners need all the support they can get. They’re just lovely people.”

Mr Woolcock said the prison, called Bilibid, houses approximately 22,000 inmates - but has the capacity for significantly less. Prisoners are required to earn income to cover their living expenses - for everything from toothbrushes to meals - and when Mr Woolcock began his work there, 11 of his students didn’t own beds.

“They slept on the factory floor. The difference if you’ve got money is incredible,” said Mr Woolcock.

“There’s no social security like you have here. A guy who’s in prison might have a wife and kids and how do they survive? Many families camp outside the prison waiting for their loved ones to pass them money.”

Mr Woolcock was working on a series of articles for a woodworking magazine - about traditional woodworking techniques from around the globe - when he first happened upon the woodworkers at Bilibid Prison.

“We’re losing the traditional skills. Traditionally, granddad would be whittling away in Winter in Russia for example, and in Summer he would bring products out to sell. Now it’s done by machines,” he said.

He had been told there were numerous woodworkers serving time in Bilibid, and that they created and sold small wooden items - including toys - to earn their keep.

“The group interested in woodwork was making lots of things but hadn’t had any proper training. The director [of the prison] said I can give you as many men as you need, and provide the space, but we’re desperate for teachers,” said Mr Woolcock.

It was not long before Mr Woolcock met an inmate named Altizer who shared with him his story.

“He had an ordinary job as a baker. One day he got on a bus and a guy on ice was molesting two school girls. Being a gentleman, he intervened, and the guy stabbed him,” said Mr Woolcock.

“He managed to get the knife off the guy, who he killed. He is now in for life. He makes some of my saddles for me.

“That was the end of my woodworking magazine project - once I saw the need in the prison, it just grew from that. I had the funds and the time.

“I built a workshop in the prison and imported machines from Australia. My boys - I call them ‘my boys’ - I pay them a small wage. They’re my prisoners but I love them! If they haven’t got employment in prison, they’re starving.”

For the past two years, Mr Woolcock has been looking after his elderly father, who recently passed away. He has now re-registered his rocking horse business, Renaissance Rocking Horses, and is actively looking for commissions so he can continue his work with the inmates.

“I am just a toymaker, and don’t have unending funds. My grandfather went to the rescue of the Titanic survivors and saw terrible things like lack of lifeboats. My project is like a lifeboat - it’s small, although there are many in need in the water,” said Mr Woolcock.

“I hope and pray that my work will expand so I can build better accommodation for the wives and children living in squalor outside.”

Mr Woolcock was trained by his grandfather in the old style of woodworking. He learnt to carve wood from a young age, and over the years has owned a number of businesses making and selling traditional-style toys.

Many of his customers at Renaissance Rocking Horses are first-time grandparents, and his heirloom carvings are often passed down through families.

“They last. I’ve had them back from the children of the children to restore them. They restore well,” he said.

“No two of my horses are the same as they’re individually carved. Roebuck was the biggest manufacturer in Australia until the 1970s and they were knocking them out. But they had no heart - no soul.”

Mr Woolcock’s designs are based on classical English rocking horses with carved in teeth, heads turned to the right, detail carving on the heads and well-shaped shoulders and chest muscles. They also have kindly faces.

The horses are carved from pine, which Mr Woolcock sources from a sustainable plantation in New Zealand. The eyes are German-made glass eyes, and the saddles are made of Italian leather. The hair is mainly from Mongolia, and is hand-woven horse hair.

“I have the steelwork done locally. It’s an international horse. I sometimes collect horse hair from the abattoir - some is worth hundreds of dollars and they’re just thrown into a tip. One of my problems is always chasing hair,” said Mr Woolcock.

Mr Woolcock has booked an exhibition space at the Hawkesbury Show in May, where he will take orders for his rocking horses and also sell artworks made by the Bilibid inmates.

This includes paintings made by the prison’s art department, which he plans to sell for approximately $150 each and pass the takings back to the inmates. He will also sell small, hand-carved figures of houses and animals made by his ‘boys’.

The figures are made of paletina (recycled pallets), which is the only type of wood Mr Woolcock is permitted to take into the prison, due to concerns the inmates will use the wood as construction material.

Mr Woolcock next heads to Bilibid on February 19, but he is in contact with the Philippines on a daily basis via Skype.

“I’ve employed some people within the prison - a partner who is helping. She speaks several languages and translates the dialects. She’s also teaching them English,” he said.

“I could be spending my time at the pub like the other oldies! But I love my project, and I thank the good lord every day for my strange talents, that give me a chance to help others and maybe make a difference.”