

We now wholesale and retail globally, but our passion is to educate people all over the world about Australian opal. We left Lightning Ridge to pursue other opportunities, then I took our opal business online, first on eBay and then with our own website in 2007. Justin was mining and cutting, we were wholesaling, and Jurgen was also in Lightning Ridge full-time. Not long after our son Saxon was born in 2002, we moved out to Lightning Ridge permanently. Justin and I married in 1997 and I joined the business full-time in 2000 after a career in communications. If there was a scratch or a polish mark or anything on the opal, his dad would give it back to him and tell him to start from scratch. Jurgen taught him to cut and he was extremely exacting. Justin joined the business after finishing school and we like to say he had an apprenticeship of 10 years. He started mining and learnt to cut, and had a really good eye for it - Jurgen was an artist and always good with his hands, carving and whittling - so he started a company called Mosman Opal Cutting. “Justin’s father Jurgen Thomas emigrated from Germany in 1961 and decided to hitch a ride on a postal van to Lightning Ridge - he figured digging for opal was a better choice than landscaping in Sydney. Renowned for their high quality opal products and informative and entertaining Youtube videos which have clocked up millions of views, Justin and Ruth are now Australian Opal Centre Founders, excited for what the new world-class facility will bring to the Australian opal industry, the Lightning Ridge community, and for lovers of opal around the world. To sign up, simply enter your email address into this link here.Husband and wife team Justin Thomas and Ruth Benjamin-Thomas operate the global opal retail and wholesale business Black Opal Direct, which was started in 1961 by Justin’s father Jurgen. The morning newsletter arrives every day before 9am and the evening newsletter, manually curated by the team, is sent between 4pm and 5pm, giving you a round up of the most important stories we've covered that day.
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Get all the latest Glasgow news and headlines sent straight to your inbox twice a day by signing up to our free newsletter.įrom breaking news to the latest on the coronavirus crisis in Scotland, we''ll have you covered. The authentication process will see the card recipient being asked to enter their Scotland Loves Local Gift Card and National Insurance numbers on a dedicated website, and if the numbers match the record held, the balance will be immediately uploaded. To reduce the risk of theft, the cards will require activation. It is expected that the cards will be sent out directly to eligible households throughout July - there will be no need for an application process. The Covid Low-Income Gift Cards will be administered by Miconex, the delivery partners for Scotland’s Towns Partnership. GCC have said that data from the council tax system will be used to identify Glasgow households who are entitled to council tax reduction, which in turn will be used to identify which households would be eligible to receive a pre-paid gift card. Who is eligible for the Scotland Loves Local gift card?

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So where can you spend the voucher and who is eligible for one? Here's what you need to know alongside a full list of shops, cafes, restaurants and more you can choose from. But they also allow us to support tens of thousands of low-income households and individuals with practical assistance, something we hope can make a positive difference to them during the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades." The gift cards are expected to be with all eligible households within the coming days.Ĭouncillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The gift cards will give city businesses a much-needed lift following two years of the pandemic and the resulting impact on trade. READ MORE: Glasgow's Ovo Hydro announces extra Kevin Bridges tickets after 16-date sell-outĭespite people being able to purchase items online, the business themselves must have a physical presence in the city with consumers have a period of 12 months to use it in. The cards can be used online and in-store however they must be located within your region and the business must be signed up to the scheme in order for you to be able to spend your card there. It comes as they approved their distribution in June of this year with selected homes set to receive the Covid Low-Income Gift Card as part of the Scotland Loves Local scheme in a bid to help struggling families and local businesses recover from the pandemic. Glasgow City Council confirmed that around 85,000 households across the city will receive gift cards worth £105.
