Prisoners refurbish cannon for Royal visit

Government House requested the prison to embark on stripping and refurbishing the cannon

Three prison inmates have restored eight cannon ahead of the Royal visit in July.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will visit Jersey as part of a royal trip to the Channel Islands on 15 July - it will be a public holiday for islanders to celebrate.

Government House requested the States of Jersey Prison to embark on stripping and refurbishing the cannon in time to be used for the visit.

Project lead Paul Hopper said that the prisoners were not told it was for the Royal visit until the project was completed.

'Love and care'

He said: "They didn't believe me at all, they thought I was joking, but once I said it they actually wanted to give them an extra sand down and an extra coat... they were very proud of it."

The cannon were varnished to "enhance the natural wood grain", fitted with large oak wooden blocks to prevent them from moving when fired.

Plaques were also placed on them detailing the dates of every king or queen’s visit to the island.

Mr Hopper said they were "in a bit of a state."

He said: "They had a little bit of mould on them, staining, they'd been used obviously quite a lot so they just needed a little bit of love and care."

Three prison inmates helped restore the eight cannon

Gemma Lofthouse, the head of reducing reoffending, said the project made the prisoners "feel valued".

She said: "Prisoners don't necessarily know what projects they're helping and supporting but this particular project, when they were told, they kind of couldn't really believe it.

"It really gives them that determination to do a good job and to be part of something."

The prison said it believed the refurbished cannon would be "a highlight of King Charles's visit".