Ballinrobe students carve out a niche with wooden-gift business

TY mini-company projects are often perceived as little more than the odd cake sale here and there.
Rarely do these mini-enterprises blossom into a full-fledged business, but there’s one in Ballinrobe Community School that is already starting to grow wings.
Selling bite-sized brownies for a euro is all well and good, but there’s plenty at that.
You can pretty much do it at home anyway; fire the butter, sugar, milk and into a bowl, add a cinder block of chocolate, mix it up, into the oven and away you go.
But crafting a bespoke, personalised range of wooden gifts is not something you can do at home.
Gian Caprio, Matthew McCormack and Stephen Feerick have put their enterprise and woodwork skills to good use by creating the aptly and succinctly-named ‘Timber Gifts’.
“Our goal is to create pieces that are high quality, beautiful, and unique, creating memories that will last a lifetime,” reads their mission statement on the Timber Gifts website.
“We take great pride in the craftsmanship of each of our items, and strive to provide the highest level of customer service.”
Founded some months ago under the guidance of mini-company teacher Ms ?? Feeney, these three lads have already reached far beyond the standard table full of confectioneries in the hallway.
They have already flogged their wares at Christmas markets in Ballinrobe and Ballyglass; everything from coasters to candle holders, to phone stands, gaming stands and Christmas decorations.

Supply and demand
THE interest is such that they all chip in a few hours a week to keep demand supplied.
Gian looks after the finance and logistics side of things, with Matthew taking the lead on production and Stephen looking after the advertising.
“We all did woodwork for junior cycle so we already had a great interest,” Gian said when The Mayo News called to interview the lads in the school oratory.
“It took a bit of time to get everything to fit together nicely. Once we had our idea we had everything we needed,” added Matthew.
The marriage of woodwork and enterprise was expedited by Matthew’s three years of Junior Cert business studies and metal work. All three subjects have been put to good use.
“I’ve been three years doing metalwork. During those three years I did a bit of designing on solid works. I’m doing it again this year,” Matthew explained.
“That’s how I design all the different products. Each piece has to be designed, then we send it to the laser cutter in school and it cuts them out along the plywood.”
The phone stands, which even have a hole carved into them for the charging port, have been a particularly popular seller.
“Everyone is very happy with them and they find the phone stand incredibly useful. They don’t realise that they need it but once they have it at home they find so many uses for it,” commented Matthew.
“Even the ergonomics of the phone stand is to have it at the right height so it’s at the perfect height when you’re sitting down and you can see it at the right angle.”

E-commerce platform
THEY’VE already established an e-commerce platform and sold well at a couple of Christmas markets - but they’re far from done.
“If our business becomes successful we’re planning to cooperate with a mental health activist, Niall Breslin,” Gian revealed.
Better known by his stage name, ‘Bressie’ gained a profile as a rugby player and a musician before going public about his mental health struggles.
Today, he wears the hat of one of the nation’s leading podcasters through ‘Where Is My Mind?’, a pioneering mental health podcast that has drawn thousands of listeners, lives shows and numerous high-profile guests - including Mayo’s very our own man of steel, Lee Keegan.
Raw, unashamed and blunt, the Westmeath man is on a mission to normalise conversations around mental health.
“We all admire his works and how he is trying to destigmatise mental health,” said Gian.
“We are planning to, some time in the future, make products that promote mental health in our area. All the funds we get from that we will fund it to his charity, a Lust for Life.”
The very word ‘mental health’ barely existed among secondary students a decade ago.
Today, it’s very much a part of a teenager’s parlance - even among young men.
“Mental health is very important. We learn a lot more about it than we used to,” said Matthew.
Already, the lads behind Timber Gifts are planning to make products with personalised slogans. Unwavering in their modesty, Gian, Matthew and Stephen will hold their feet on solid ground for the time being.
When asked about their plans for the future, Matthew says they want to ‘definitely try and expand a bit more around a few different products and see where we go’.
They could be getting a phone call from Bressie yet.

Learn more about Timber Gifts by visiting www.timber-gifts.com.