Three local businesses have provided new picnic benches in St Peter Port’s Sunken Garden at the top of Smith Street in a bid to enhance the facilities available in the area.
The businesses, Heritage Insurance, Grant Thornton and Mourant Ozannes - each with offices close to the Sunken Garden - have sponsored a picnic bench.
Richard Le Tocq, director at Heritage Insurance, was inspired to make a contribution following a TED X event organised by the Dandelion Project, which aims to make Guernsey the best place to live on earth by 2020.
Mr Le Tocq said: “The idea was to make a contribution to improve our local area and make a difference to the community in which we live and work. I secured the support of three local businesses as we all appreciate that the Sunken Garden is a popular place for our staff to sit and get some fresh air during their breaks.”
The benches are made from recycled plastic and were installed by the Community and Environmental Projects Team (CEPS), a project run by States Works that enables the unemployed and the long-term sick to participate in community projects. The installation took quite a lot longer than Mr Le Tocq first envisaged due to having to negotiate with many interested parties but the benches were eventually installed in August.
Mr Le Tocq said: “Janice Dockerill of the Environment Department, Nick Nicolle at States Works and Martyn Barbe of CEPS were all hugely helpful in navigating the process and helping me see the project through to fruition.”