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Tharwa Valley Forge's new veterans makers program has been so popular it will use a year's worth of funding in 12 weeks, leaving more than 100 people on a waiting list. The two-day program, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, includes bladesmithing, blacksmithing, bow-making, and leather and wood work. The popularity of the program, designed for veterans and their families, was anticipated by the forge's programs manager Mark Toogood, a veteran himself. After being medically-discharged from the army, Mr Toogood found himself at a loss. But a knife-making course at Tharwa helped him find himself again. "The big thing in my experience was the whole identity based on competency," Mr Toogood said. He said it was hard to be out of the confines of the military after years of knowing your place. "So you're out of the military but then how do you then feel like a whole person, how do you identify yourself when part of your identity used to be how competent you were, how do you measure that when you have nothing to measure it against." Mr Toogood came up with the idea to run veterans programs at Tharwa. He said the sense of achievement it provided meant they always went home happy. The program was provided about $50,000 in government funding and was designed for veterans and their families to bond over a shared experience. Skye and Naresh Bains were thrilled to be able to take part together. Their two children - aged five and seven - were at school while they undertook a two-day bladesmithing course. Mrs Bains is a Navy veteran, having served six years as a linguist. "I like making things, it's that sense of completing something which is always nice," she said. "I haven't made knives before, but it's actually been really fun designing them, learning about all the different parts and having the time in the workshop and in the forge. It's a lot of things I haven't done before." Mrs Bains - who made a kitchen knife and a fishing knife - said she would "absolutely" recommend it to others. Christine Svarcas and partner Ken Gilchrist were also taking part in one of the two-day bladesmithing courses. Mr Gilchrist is a serving member of the defence force, and has been deployed five times, to Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor. Ms Svarcas said he had always loved the idea of knifemaking, and wanted her to join the class. "I'm a bit out of my comfort zone. My day job is in the public service so I certainly haven't wielded a hammer before or worked in a forge, but it has been really fun," she said. "This is the first program that has taken Ken's interest. He likes working with his hands and learning something new. Tharwa Valley Forge owner Karim Haddad said the team had started fundraising to help get more veterans through the program. He said the government funding was allocated specifically for Canberra's contemporary veterans, but they had plenty of interest from further afield and from older veterans. Mr Haddad said about 40 people had been through the courses and the same amount were booked in over the coming weeks. There were 108 people on a waiting list. "We are limited in what we could do with it but I think we've done really well," Mr Haddad said. "Through Mark I realised there was a really big unmet need, and these programs were seen as something very tangible that people could get their hands and teeth into," he said. Mr Haddad has opened a crowdfunding campaign to help get the ball rolling, and to show the government there was a greater need for programs like this for veterans. To find out more, apply to the program or to donate to a campaign, visit this link.

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