Clara O’Sullivan, who’s in year 8 at Beaulieu, is now sleeping on her dream bed, upcycled from pallet boards. She approached Acorn Enterprises, the Trinity-based social enterprise to help her create the DIY pallet-board bed, inspired by a photo she saw on Pinterest. Delighted at Clara’s passion to reuse and upcycle, Acorn helped her source the right pallets and prepare them before construction. Acorn Enterprises Manager John Hill said: “Clara’s enthusiasm really inspired me, and it was heartening to know that young people in Jersey are interested in reusing and upcycling. Projects like these are great for the environment as it means we are putting less items into the waste stream. Clara’s project perfectly combines reuse and upcycling, which really is at the heart of what we do at Acorn Enterprises.”
To make the bed, Acorn Enterprises removed the nails and sanded the boards down. At her home, Clara assembled the bed herself and decorated it with fairy lights. Clara said: “I am so grateful to John and the team at Acorn for making my dream bed come true. When I explained to John what I wanted to achieve, he really listened and found the pallet boards which his team transformed. I would recommend anyone who sees a reuse project on social media to visit Acorn Enterprises. They have so many interesting items coming into their Woodshack workshop, ready to be reused and upcycled. It’s brilliant to have this facility in Jersey and more people should make use of it as it helps support the environment and our community.”
Acorn Enterprises is the vocational training arm of the Jersey Employment Trust and includes the Acorn Woodshack. Here, timber that would otherwise be burned is saved and used to make high quality products, such as furniture and picture frames, which are then sold from the store in Trinity.
