association comment Getting ready for Spring


Mike Burks, GCAchairman provides GCUwith the latest from the organisation ahead of the Spring months


At our annual conference, a cheque for £12,000 was presented to Greenfingers thanks to the fundraising efforts of GCA members and it is great news that such a substantial amount was raised for such a worthwhile cause. If you are looking for ideas to help you host an event at your garden centre, please take a look at www.gardenreleaf.co.uk. Another key date to pop into your diary and


start planning for now, is National Gardening Week from 27 April - 3 May. This is a great opportunity for garden centres to hold events and activities to get people through their doors. The new season often inspires a new wave of people who want to give gardening a go, so it’s important to ensure you have some displays for complete beginners containing everything they need before getting started. You could also run beginners’ workshops or host informative talks with demos for those just starting out. It’s also important to be aware of


#PeatFreeApril as it’s a good opportunity to talk about the need to move away from using peat.


We need to wean gardeners off peat in a managed and supported way so they can build up the skills needed with gardening in peat free composts.


I am thrilled to finally be seeing some of the first signs of spring starting to arrive aſter what has been a long, cold and wet winter. The new season gives us a fresh boost of inspiration and motivation and we’ve already started to see an upturn in activity as gardeners start getting back into their gardens after the winter break. There are lots of ways our member garden


centres can get customers excited about their gardens with excellent displays, events and activities. One golden opportunity to kick start the season


is the Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day, where the industry supports the charity Greenfingers through a variety of different fundraising activities.


As well as collecting money, it can help our member garden centres increase footfall and sales, boost staff morale and improve productivity, engage with customers in a fun way and it generates publicity and social media reach too.


Established in 1999, Greenfingers Charity supports life-limited children who use hospices around the UK, along with their families, by creating outdoor spaces for them to enjoy with family, friends and siblings, whether through play and fun or therapeutic rest and relaxation. To date it has created 58 gardens and


outdoor spaces in hospices around the country and has a waiting list of hospices that need its help now.


We need to be prepared for the scrutiny from lobby groups about our attitude to peat and the environmental impact. We have already received lots of messages online regarding the issue.


Being peat free is a learning curve and while we are moving towards being peat free and taking our members and customers with us on this journey, we need to keep people gardening because gardening is very good for the environment. A cold turkey approach to peat would be detrimental.


• To find out more about the GCA and its work, please get in touch by calling us on 01244 952170 or by visiting www.gca.org.uk.


26 | www.gardencentreupdate.com


GCU Spring 2020


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