Sitting Spiritually on the Jurassic Coast

The Jurassic Coast is a special place – a World Heritage Site, recognised in the same global league as the Taj Mahal, Grand Canyon and Great Barrier Reef. Every year, millions of visitors flock to our coastline to look for fossils, walk the coast path, or just soak up the sun with an ice cream in hand.

Whether you’re a four-year old budding palaeontologist or a septuagenarian who enjoys fish and chips on Weymouth Pier, it’s a place that creates powerful memories, and lasting experiences that stay with you. It’s a place that makes you want to come back, again and again, or, if you’re lucky enough to live here, to savour every day with the coast’s spectacular landscapes as your constant backdrop.

I’m lucky enough to work for the Jurassic Coast Trust, the independent charity in charge of looking after the World Heritage Site. Our work is challenging and varied, but one constant is encountering the love that people have for this part of the world. It was this love of place that I instantly recognised upon meeting Martin Young, Sitting Spiritually’s owner and founder. I manage the JCT’s Business Partner Scheme, and work with almost 70 companies to help them get the most out of their proximity to the World Heritage Site, whilst helping us raise vital funds to ensure its protection.

It was a pleasure to meet Martin, and to hear him talk through his approach to his work. Sitting Spiritually are our first Business Partner of their kind – a truly unique, locally based company who evidently put all of their love and attention into producing their pieces. Their approach is permeated by all things Jurassic – from Martin’s tranquil home showroom, nestled in the Uplyme countryside, new and returning customers peruse the items on show, with Lyme Regis’ gorgeous cliffs and fossil-strewn beaches just about visible through the trees.

Martin’s love for the coast is reflected in his wares, none more so than the ammonite coffee table, which we are pleased to sell through our online shop. It’s this sort of inspired creativity, welded to a dedication to craft and practicality (ammonites make the perfect table shape, after all), that we cherish in our Business Partners. The Jurassic Coast belongs to everyone, and its iconic images of ammonites and other fossils are there to used by innovative local companies, who want to put the stamp of provenance on to their products.

Sitting Spiritually’s dedication to providing peaceful, relaxing time to their customers is also a key value that we are delighted to support. The Jurassic Coast, as well as being a haven of adventure and excitement, is also a place of reflection and meditation, somewhere where nature is in command and the modern world can seem a million miles away. Sitting Spiritually’s ethos of providing quality products that facilitate this mindful time – their seats and swings look like the perfect place to enjoy a post-coast walk cuppa – represents a perfect alignment with our values as a charity, and with UNESCO’s wider World Heritage mission of facilitating peaceful relations between nations.

We look forward to working with Martin and his team, and to seeing where our shared journey of living and working on the Jurassic Coast may lead.

With Many Thanks to Guy Kerr, to find out more about the Jurassic Coast Trust, visit them here