Charitable foundation provides £103,000 for new social enterprise

Friday 26 September 2014

A new initiative for recycling waste wood which will provide multiple benefits for the community and work opportunities for people with disabilities has opened in Trinity

The new social enterprise from the Jersey Employment Trust was made possible by a generous donation of £103,000 (over three years) from the Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands.

The trust (JET) is a charitable trust which assists people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to find and sustain paid employment, will operate the recycling scheme - which is based on similar successful schemes in the UK - from their Acorn Nurseries site at Trinity.  

Transport and Technical Services approached the charity with proposals for a wood recycling project to reduce the 230 tonnes per year of commercial and domestic wood that is currently burnt in the Incinerator (energy from waste plant) with significant financial and environmental cost. The scheme will remove re-usable timber and furniture from the waste stream and recycle it, either as timber or household and garden products. This presents a valuable opportunity for people with a disability to gain paid employment, learn new vocational, generic employability skills and volunteering opportunities at the same time reducing waste and pollution and saving natural resources.

As a social enterprise, the aim of the scheme is to be fully self-supporting within three years whilst providing valuable financial and environmental savings and employment opportunities.

JET’s Executive Officer, Jocelyn Butterworth said: “The Acorn Woodshack is a fantastic project and has so many benefits for the community, not only is it eco-friendly, reducing waste and preserving natural resources; it will provide a varied range of employment, training and volunteering opportunities. Working in partnership with TTS has been an extremely positive experience, especially the secondment of a member of staff, which has enabled us to streamline the whole process. It is rare to find a project with so much diversity and have the potential to be self-financing; we are extremely grateful to the Lloyds Bank Foundation for their generosity in supporting the scheme until we reach the break even point.”

The Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands is one of the largest sources of charitable funding in the islands, dispensing almost £1million a year in the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey. Its mission is to support and work in partnership with charitable organisations that help people, especially those who are disadvantaged or disabled, to play a fuller role in communities throughout the Channel Islands.

There are four Lloyds Bank Foundations, which were formed in 1985, covering England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. The Foundations are legally independent of the Lloyds Bank Group - but derive their funding entirely from the Group - and their policies are determined by independent boards of local trustees. Since 1986, donations amounting to more than £17 million have been made across the four regions.

The Chairman of the local foundation is John Boothman and the Deputy Chairman is Guernsey Jurat Dr John Ferguson. The Executive Director is John Hutchins.

Mr Hutchins said: “We as a Foundation are delighted to have been involved with this wonderfully innovative project. This is a fantastic social enterprise which will create jobs for a number of those who are disadvantaged.”