Jersey’s first-ever WellBeing Festival ended over the May Bank Holiday following 15 days of events, talks, workshops, concerts, taster sessions and promotions, achieving its objective of raising the awareness for the depth and breadth of wellbeing services available in the island. The Festival also succeeded in raising more than £2,700 to bring wellbeing to a number of local charities including Brighter Futures, Jersey Women’s Refuge and Les Amis.
Organised by WellBeing World, a membership body created in 2011 by Beverley Le Cuirot and now with more than 60 wellbeing service provider members, the WellBeing Festival comprised around 30 individual events held at WellBeing World member locations around the island including the Hotel de France, Grand Jersey, L’Horizon Hotel & Spa, the Ommaroo Hotel, and also the Jersey Opera House Studio.
WellBeing is about Health, Happiness and Prosperity and the Festival offered something for everyone, including wellbeing services as diverse as Acupuncture to Zumba; Hormone Management to Nordic Walking; Chiropractic to Complementary Therapies; Hot Yoga to Home Furnishings; and Street Dancing to Spring Fashion.
It also marked the Launch of the KidRox School Fitness Programme with BodyRox, and attracted a number of UK guests, including diet and nutrition expert, Professor Eric Llewelyn, and Robert Norton, a gifted musician from the band ‘Curved Air’ who also now uses music for healing and relaxation therapy. Local musicians Jersey Bob, the Balafonics, Naomi West and Ashiki also took part at various events throughout the Festival, including a Charity Dinner and Auction which raised more than £1,500 for Brighter Futures.
Jersey Electricity kindly donated their Nissan Leaf electric car for the duration of the Festival, to support the wellbeing of the environment; the vehicle was invaluable for transporting equipment for the various events and many of the guests from one venue to another.
The showcase event of the Festival was the WellBeing Fair held at the Radisson Blu on Sunday, 29th April. This event attracted more than 40 wellbeing service provider exhibitors and up to 1,000 visitors. It also hosted the Enterprise Club from Le Rocquier School with their LRS Heart handcrafted out of commercial waste material kindly provided by Staron UK and Somerville Fabrication; and Jersey Juice, the winner of this year’s Young Enterprise Overall Best Company Award, who exhibited their 100% natural hand-sanitiser product, Quash.
Vivien Aygun of Up and Above and the Jersey Soroptimists also hosted a Spring Fashion Show, supported by Anita Brown of Bonita Hair and Beauty, between them raising more than £1,000 for the Jersey Women’s Refuge.
The Festival also saw the launch of the first WellBeing World magazine. This has been distributed to numerous outlets across the island and has given invaluable exposure to the many wellbeing service providers in Jersey. The magazine has received some very positive feedback and is set to become a regular publication in the island.
The next WellBeing Fair is scheduled for Sunday, 9th September 2012.
The organisers hope to be able to stage another WellBeing Festival in 2013, although this will depend on their success in raising the necessary funding to support the event. To-date this has been provided through the support of volunteers, WellBeing World members, and by Immediate Impact, the marketing company run by Beverley Le Cuirot. Given the considerable potential that this sector represents in terms of local jobs, tourism and support for the charity sector, it is hoped that commercial sponsorship and/or government funding can be secured to ensure the 2013 Festival goes ahead.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the response we have received to all of the hard work over the last few months and we would love to see it continue and go on to support the wellbeing of the residents of Jersey, as well as the economy both in terms of local employment and also in promoting Jersey as a centre for wellbeing,” said Mrs Le Cuirot.
“Wellbeing is on the global agenda and Jersey has a role to play in that too.” she said.
More information on forthcoming events, WellBeing promotions, and the next issue of the WellBeing World magazine is available at www.wellbeing.je or contact Beverley Le Cuirot at Beverley@wellbeing.je or tel 07797 727 209.
