Social enterprise becomes self-sufficient

Social enterprise becomes self-sufficient

The Acorn Woodshack, a social enterprise project by the Jersey Employment Trust, was set up after it was awarded £103,220 by the Lloyds Bank Foundation.

Yesterday it was announced that the initiative had become self-sufficient and had helped 190 people with training and employment opportunities.

Since 2014 the project has grown and the site now has an independently run café, a showroom to sell the upcycled furniture, and a nursery which specialises in the production of bedding plants and supplies large organisations like Andium Homes.

The enterprise also secured a contract with the Infrastructure Department in 2016 to provide a reuse centre at La Collette to collect reusable items from the public and sell them.

Jocelyn Butterworth, chief executive of the Jersey Employment Trust, said: ‘The Woodshack has far exceeded our expectations in terms of the number of opportunities it has created.

‘To date, the Woodshack has created 15 paid jobs for people with disabilities and long-term health conditions, with over 91 per cent of these clients securing long-term paid employment either within Acorn or with other employers in the community.

‘We are pleased to say that the Woodshack is now fully self-financing, which means that we can continue to provide this level of support to our clients in the future. None of this would have been possible without the support from the Lloyds Bank Foundation.’

Jo Le Poidevin, the executive director of the Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, added: ‘The work opportunities that JET provides through the Woodshack are invaluable.

‘It is particularly pleasing to see how the Woodshack has created employment opportunities through the reuse of timber, delivering both social and environmental benefits for Jersey.’

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