A long-closed village school has been returned to education thanks to craft experts looking to spread the love for creative arts.

Hannah Weston Smith and Viki Barnes opened Folkingham Creative Arts at the Old School building in January.

Master upholsterer Hannah already ran a successful business next door, in the Old School Workshop, and was urged by friends to start passing on her skills.

Fate then provided the nudge needed to convince former secondary school teacher Hannah and Viki.

“I met up with some friends and they were saying ‘you should teach’,” she said.

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“As I drove back into Folkingham a to let sign had appeared on the Old School. I immediately thought ‘oh!’.

“We each sat down and wrote a business plan, linked them together and thought ‘this might work’”.

They took on the lease at the turn of the year and just a few weeks later opened to its first pupils.

Alongside upholstery, the centre has also hosted courses in art and others crafts including wreath-making and patchwork.

As well as those wanting to learn new skills or improve current ones, it has also caught the imagination of other artists and craftspeople.

“There is a scene here,” Hannah said. “People have contacted us to ask if they come and do some courses for us.

“We want to bring lots of different opportunities for people just to give craft a go and play about.”

New courses are set to be added and an open day for the curious will be held on Saturday, April 15 from 10am to 3pm.

“When we put out the idea, the response was so positive,” Hannah added.

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“From the local community for using a fantastic building, from friends and family, and others craftspeople were saying ‘we need a space like that for art here’. It’s working really well as a start up.”

Returning the grade II listed school building back from an office space to its original purpose chimes with Hannah’s skills in restoring much-loved furniture to their former glory.

“It was a school and designed for this purpose of teaching,” she said. “People walk in and love the feel of it.

“It’s east-facing so we get the natural light throughout the day.”

Hannah believes the benefits of working in crafts go beyond the physical.

“It’s beneficial in so many ways, not least from a mental health mindset,” she said.

“I’d like to have a spread of people and get younger people in where we can offer courses to younger people as part of some kind of sponsorship.

“In the long term, my ideal is for us to have some social value and give back to the community.”

Hannah has appeared as a guest expert on hit TV show The Repair Shop and the show’s ethos – drawing out the human stories behind the objects – follows her own.

“It’s really good when people come in with a story,” she said.

“With anyone who does heritage or restorative crafts we are all quite romantic at heart and have this lovely way of seeing an inanimate object as having a story and almost a personality.

“You can strip a piece of furniture right back to the frame and everything might have to be renewed on it. You put new fabric on, but it will still be the same chair with the same story.”