Changing lives... one print at a time

Thursday 27 April 2023

The charity behind a print workshop run by islanders with disabilities is celebrating being able to offer even more employment and training opportunities after trebling the capacity of their print workshop.

Beresford Street Kitchen - a social enterprise that provides education, training, and employment for people with learning disabilities or autism - has now doubled the floor space of its Print Works based at its flagship café, adding two pneumatic presses and IT equipment.

The upgrade means that BSK is now able to offer 80 three-hour work sessions per week – 30 more than previously – and their crew can now also get involved with design and distribution of the many orders of t-shirts, flyers, business cards, notebooks, tote bags, mugs, travel mugs, and water bottles that they receive every day.

50 people are currently on BSK’s training programme, with 10 more on their employment programme.

Gabby Ellmers, CEO of Beresford Street Kitchen, said that this would enable them to get more people into training and employment, and off BSK’s 40-strong waiting list.

Pictured: The expanded Print Works officially opened on Wednesday.

She said: "We have been planning on expanding BSK Print Works for some time and now, thanks to the amazing generosity of our supporters, this has been possible!

"It is an important milestone in our story and has enabled us to increase from 50 to 80 print crew sessions a week.

"This area is a focus in our business plan and the expansion is vital to us achieving significant growth in trading this year.”

The project was supported by the Roy Overland Charitable Trust, Apex, Kalmac Limited, and the Co-operative Society.