Ten-year anniversary gift for a special couple

Wednesday 29 July 2015

The traditional gift for a 10th anniversary might be tin or aluminium, however, JT and Jersey Live will be celebrating their long-term partnership with handcrafted wooden furniture.

JT has supported Jersey Live for 10 years and to celebrate this community partnership has engaged Acorn Woodshack to create a ‘back to nature’ theme for its VIP and Recharge areas at Jersey Live.

The team at Acorn Enterprises, the trading arm of Jersey Employment Trust, has been tasked with creating unique items of wooden furniture including benches, chairs, tables and a six-metre bar made from recycled wood, including 25 cable drums donated by JT from its fibre-optic cabling installation. All items will be on display at Jersey Live in September and available to buy after the event.

JT’s Tamara O’Brien, Head of Marketing, said: “Jersey Live is the Channel Islands’ largest music event and we are proud to have played a key role in staging these increasingly popular events over the last ten years. This year our team wanted to celebrate our involvement in a way that further demonstrated our commitment to the local community and by reaching out to Acorn as an organisation, we have found the ideal project.

“Acorn does such valuable work by supporting many members of our local community here in Jersey by providing meaningful work experience, training and employment opportunities and we were very impressed with the quality of workmanship that they produce. We’re pleased to give them an opportunity to showcase their work to our Jersey Live guests and hopefully generate interest in their products across a wider audience.

"Supporting the community and giving something back to our customers and Jersey has always been central to our longstanding involvement with Jersey Live. It gives us an opportunity to enable Islanders to be part of the largest and most exciting music event in the Channel Islands with many of them attending free through our exclusive customer promotions. Thanks go to the Acorn Woodshack for their support and we are delighted to share the great work of the talented individuals who work there.”

Jersey Employment Trust Recycling Manager, John Hill said: “When Acorn Woodshack was in its infancy, I approached JT to see if we could make use of their old cable drums and they very kindly donated some to us. We have had further discussions over the past year about reusing other timber waste and have even looked into the possibility of reusing old telephone directories and turning them into briquettes.

“JT have become aware not just of the timber recycling but also the social aspect of Acorn and the work that is done for people with a disability and long-term health condition. This budding partnership has now led us to being invited to supply and showcase our furniture in JT’s VIP and Recharge areas at the 10th anniversary Jersey Live with an array of furniture made from cable drums supplied by JT.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for Acorn Woodshack to promote not just the recycled timber but also the social enterprise aspect of our business, and what a platform to be able to do it. We would like to thank JT and look forward to developing our relationship in the future.”

The Channel Islands’ largest community music event will take place on Saturday 5^th and Sunday 6^th September 2015 at the Royal Jersey Showground. Through its sponsorship of Jersey Live JT enables customers to enjoy a wide range of benefits including free ticket promotions. Returning for 2015 is the JT supported Par 4 Field, which includes the JT Stage and Recharge areas offering live performances throughout the weekend and family-friendly activities including face painting and games, a chill out zone and interactive activities.