Portsmouth crafter's treehouse created for son, 3, gets him shortlisted for upcycler of the year

Mechanic Ashley Gill has taken on a project to design and create a dream treehouse for three-year-old Elliot - which has led him to be named in the top 10 upcyclers in the country.

Ashley’s upcycled creation beat hundreds of others to be shortlisted in the upcycler of the year contest organised by power tool manufacturer, Ryobi Power Tools.

Upcycling is a growing trend of sprucing up unloved furniture or creating something new out of items which would otherwise go to waste.

With help from wife Katy who picked out the colour scheme and did the painting, Ashley formed his structure from two pallets and broken up fence panels, with fence posts for legs and a door made from broken-up pallet wood.

Ashley, who works at Peter Cooper Volkswagen in Chichester as a master technician, said: ‘It's been a labour of love and Elliot loves it, it would be lovely to win upcycler of the year but to even be in the top 10 is amazing.

‘It was my first project like this to get me ready to build my bigger version man cave.

‘Apparently, according to my son, it now needs windows and a doorbell.’

The top 10 entries will now go to a public vote which closes at 12am on April 5. The entry with the most votes will be crowned the winner on April 6 and win a hamper of Ryobi ONE+ crafting tools worth more than £750.

Thomas Leather, marketing manager for the tool firm, said: ‘First we would like to thank the hundreds of entries for submitting their projects, the creativity up and down the UK has been very impressive and it’s great to see so many of you turning your discarded household items into amazing projects.

‘We would like to wish our shortlist the best of luck, we can’t wait to see who is crowned the winner!’

To view the crafting creations and vote for the winner, visit uk.ryobitools.eu/competition/upcycler-of-the-year.

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