It was an absolute pleasure to meeting Juliet Arnott. She is the life, soul and absolute belief force behind the social enterprise of Rekindle.
Rekindle is a wonderful story of wood.
"Our mission is to support communities to utilise their wood waste fully and in doing so, maximize the benefits of the purposeful work involved. Rekindle works to create employment and learning opportunities, and to actively enable people to participate in meaningful valued activity. We are a social enterprise strongly committed to these concerns, and any profits go into development of opportunities that further our ability to do this work.
Beautiful ancient and irreplaceable indigenous timber such as kauri, matai and rimu are most commonly diverted from waste and reused at Rekindle"
Juliet comes from a two sided background - one of an Occupational Therapist and the other a Creative/Artist/Designer. These two 'faces' are brought together in Rekindle.
We spoke about the 'lack of meaningful activity' and it was immediately clear that we both shared a passion for this concept - her's in making with wood and mine with just making. Straight away I could easily see Juliet's clear vision for Rekindle and the value that this project has on her community. It was inspiring and encouraging.
She is passionate and her passion shines through in the people that she has helping her. This video, made by Ash Robinson of Dollar Mix Bag is proof. He had heard her speak and immediately put his hand up to create this documentary. This was a similar story for one of her volunteers, Stephan. The moral here is speak about what you are passionate about and the world will listen (and help).
It was good timing on my behalf that the day before I was due to see Juliet was the opening of the Rekindle pop-up shop and cafe. It was a freezing wintry evening but the warmth of the guests as well as the re-worked wood (oh and the champagne) made for a hearty and fun evening.
The range:
Weatherboard Chairs from $322
Trestle Tables from $690
City Scape Sets $28.00
Off cut Rings $122.00
Bracelets 138.00
Tables $1,150.00
Stools from $300
All available here
The next day we meet at the Shop Eight and Rekindle cafe (with snow falling outside) and chatted over amazing coffee and cake provided by the lovely Anna.
I would love to thank Juliet and team for what they are doing and encourage you all to support this worthy enterprise in anyway you can. This is inspiring stuff right here.
*Rekindle also have upstairs 'hot desks' for rent, if you are interested please contact:
Juliet Arnott | Rekindle
info@rekindle.org.nz
All images by Alex Fulton Design
