Keith Pickering
BSc Environmental Studies 1980
Keith Pickering is the proud owner of The Stick Man which has been trading worldwide for more than 20 years.
“I started making sticks in 1985 after my wife, Jacky, bought me a present – a stick with a Labrador head as the handle. Thinking it was too good to take out in case it got broken, I decided I would make my own,” he said.
“I had seen a TV programme featuring a retired Gamekeeper who carved his own sticks using a small knife and bits of broken glass. He made some wonderful sticks. Inspired by this, I started with a cock pheasant head. It was rubbish! Undeterred, I made another which was a bit better, then another. I was quite pleased with that one and was prepared to be seen in public with it.”
He added: “The first day out with it probably changed my stickmaking life from being a small hobby into a potential business, though I didn't know it then. After several years and several hundred sticks I decided to try and turn this hobby into a business. I joined Brigantia, a craft organisation in North Yorkshire. With Brigantia's help I attended some country shows and found I could sell a few sticks. I sold a few more through local shops on a sale or return basis. I began to have help from Business Link and my advisor there thought I could just make a go of it, but I had to take it seriously and put real effort in to it if I wanted to succeed.”
In 1999 Keith turned his hobby into a full-time living and was joined in the business a few years later by his wife Jacky, who he’d married in 1983.
Keith, originally from Middlesbrough, was attracted to Sunderland in 1977 because he had always been interested in wildlife and nature and Sunderland Polytechnic offered a BSc in Environmental Studies.
He said: “Environmental Studies was a pretty “modern” course when I started it in 1977 and I didn’t really know what to expect but it looked interesting, and it was!
“Most of the course work was relevant, although a few elements seemed to have been included just to fill our time, but on the whole I really enjoyed it. Living in Middlesbrough, Sunderland was a short train ride from home so was just far enough away without being too close to home.”
Even after 40 years Keith still has got so many memories of his time in Sunderland.
He said: “I remember the Carlton Bar and playing darts most nights. The field trip to Arran was memorable too – climbing a mountain, dragging an inflatable boat to explore a little hill loch and seeing Derek Bair (course leader then) playing pool back in the hotel completely drunk and smashing a full pint with his cue – we had some laughs!
“I joined the newly opened Sports Centre in Sunderland and spent many lunchtimes and evenings swimming, playing squash or badminton – gosh I was fit then!”
His advice to students on how to get a foot on the career ladder and secure their dream job is to be honest with themselves and any potential employer.
He added: “You think you know it all when you go out into the “big wide world” but you don’t.”
Talking about his future plans, the Sunderland graduate commented: “I’m 60 now and hopefully have a few more years of working left in me. I was hoping to start slowing down a bit this year but having appeared on BBC Countryfile recently has changed all that and I’m busier than ever just now. Make hay while the sun shines, as they say, so I’ll just put a bit more into the pension fund and hope I live to use it.”