Association Comment: GCA Stronger together
Garden Centre Association Chairman, Mike Burks brings us up-to-date on how the GCA is working together with other likeminded industry organisations on lobbying the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to get their garden centres reopened as soon as possible.
getting plants, seeds and other gardening must haves out to customers and for them to reassess their clarification of centres being non-essential. Many of our members are working hard to share the message about how
important gardening is for our physical and mental wellbeing and offering free advice and tips, as there is still lots to be done in the garden at this time of year whether you have a large plot, a patio or a windowsill of greenery. It’s vital that we keep those people who took up gardening in the first lockdowns, interested and educate them on what can be done at this time of year. We’re posting some helpful advice on our own website and social media pages, and our members are posting on theirs too. We’ve also been taking a look back at last year’s annual conference, which took place back in January 2020. It’s been interesting to see what some of our guest speakers had to say at the time and how their words relate to what we’re going through now. One guest speaker who stood out in particular was Buddhist monk, Gelong Thubten, who specialises in teaching mindfulness meditation.
At the time of writing, we have made it through January and are part way through February. So far, the year has been pretty much the same as 2020 was. We’re all staying safe and staying home, hoping for good news to come ready for the spring season. This time of year is usually a lot quieter for our garden centres anyway, and while those in England are open for essential shopping, in certain parts of the country some are closed. It’s been important for the industry to work together to try and get all of the other nations on the same footing as England and it’s imperative that garden centres be able to begin trading again as soon as possible ahead of the main spring season. We have worked closely with the Horticultural Trades Association to call
on Governments from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to recognise the importance of allowing centres to re-open and for the process of
It’s been important for the industry to work together to try and get all of the other nations on the same footing as England
During the conference he took our members through a mindfulness workshop and his wise words from the day really resonated with our attendees. We are still hearing feedback from many of them about how they are using mindfulness in their everyday work and personal lives, especially during these particularly tough times.
We’re hoping to host our next conference later this year, dependant on Government guidelines, and will keep all members updated.
GCA GROW prepared garden centres for re-opening after lockdown
The GCA says its e-learning Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) modules on social distancing helped prepare member centres for re-opening after lockdown (2020). The Social Distancing and Social Distancing for Catering courses were launched in early May and July last year, in record time, immediately after the announcements permitting centres and then restaurants to reopen. Antony Snow, Instructional Designer for
GROW at the GCA, said: “Looking back on what has been a year full of uncertainty, we are incredibly proud of the hard work and long hours that were put into launching our Social Distancing and Social Distancing for Catering modules for staff at our member garden centres.
“The two e-learning courses focused on the considerations involved to ensure that
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social distancing was maintained and therefore a safe environment was created for employees and customers. “When garden centres across the country
closed, no-one imagined how different things would be when they re-opened, so to put together modules on something that was unprecedented was a huge feat, but one that allowed staff to train and prepare for social distancing before the reopening of centres and in the immediate weeks afterwards.
“Although we are now all familiar with social distancing and our member garden centres have done us extremely proud with all the measures they have put into place, the modules still serve as a useful refresher tool that staff can refer back to periodically, to eliminate ‘Covid fatigue’. “The traditionally quieter period in
January/February is an ideal time for garden centres, during the start of the year, to ensure staff are refreshed on these topics or new staff are given the training they need and that those away from the business on furlough can keep up-to-date too. We regularly update our modules to meet with new guidelines as needed as well.” As well as being available exclusively to GCA member garden centres, the GROW facility is now also available to Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) garden centre members too.
• For further information about the GCA, please call 01244 952170. Alternatively, please visit our website
www.gca.org.uk, log on to
www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAss ociation or follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/GC_Association
GCU February/March 2021
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