Chorley man’s art shop dream after surviving cancer, grief and terror attack

AI generated image of the shop which Robert hopes to open. Pic: Robert’s GoFundMe page

After a highly distressing ten years, Chorley based Robert has stared in the face of adversity and is determined to accomplish his goal of owning his own art shop.

Following what he described as a relatively quiet twenties, Robert’s thirties began much the same. Until at 32 he was one of the many who were present at the Manchester area bombing. In that same year he lost two family members on the same day, was diagnosed with cancer and his mum passed very unexpectedly. This year he last lost a close friend to cancer and four months later lost his dad.

He said: “You go into a process driven mindset, where you think I can’t emotionally or physically deal with anymore and you switch off to the outside world and crack on with it.”

Robert is looking forward to the fresh start his forties’ promise. Which, he’s hoping, will include buying his own art shop.

“You get swept away with things sometimes and end up being taken down paths, career wise, and lose sight of what your dreams were when you were young and that’s what happened to me. Then when I was diagnosed in my thirties with cancer and following recovery, I took a long hard look at the things that make me happy and what I wanted to be doing and how I wanted to be spending my time. Ultimately, I reconnected with art.”

He continued: “It took me down a path of going to regular art shows, finding local art galleries, going to things like Potfest In The Pens, Potfest In The Park which are all ceramic shows, Yorkshire sculpting park. I just found all these amazing places to visit and spend time and start decompressing from all of the things that had happened in my thirties. It really helped me to reconnect with what I loved.”

He has found his perfect shop in Chorley town centre, and it could not have come at a better time.

He explained: “Two or three days after my dad passed this shop popped up and I’m not one that believes in fate as such, but I’d already been having low level conversations with artists and suppliers since February. So, when this shop popped up, I thought is this a sign? Do I just need to run with it and see what I can do? And that’s where I am.”

Robert has secured a loan to cover most of the costs, but there is still an additional £8,000 that needs to be raised. A GoFundMe page has been started to help Robert carry out his dream.

The end goal is to have the bottom floor as the shop and the upstairs as an artistic space used for workshops and classes hosted by a range of local crafts people. But firstly, he wants to focus on the shop itself.

Robert said: “I want it to be a shopping experience. I don’t want it to just be a shop where you come in, you walk around, and you leave. I want people to come in and have a feeling. That’s when I’ll know I’ve achieved what I set out to. I don’t want it to be just another shop in the high-street.”

After everything he endured in his thirties, Robert remains optimistic and wants to convey to anyone that’s been diagnosed with an illness that life can get better, and you can still achieve anything you want.

To anyone who has been through or is going through hardships, he sends an inspiring message: “Try not to be defined by the things that have happened to you, hold onto the things that really do spark a fire in you because those are the things that you can always keep coming back to.”

If you want to donate to help Robert get closer to his goal, visit the GoFundMe page.

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