In This Issue
Judging of GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards set to start this week
Do your customers think you are The Greatest at Christmas?
100 firefighters tackle garden centre fire near Heathrow Airport
Great festive sales look set to deliver a record month
Taylors Bulbs raises £2,400 for Children in Need during Rickshaw Challenge ride-past
Cat Wars Bonanza for Garden Retailers
Completion of 'extraordinary' project approaches for Smiemans
Bonningtons' buying team expands to support rapid growth
Customer service team rewarded at Tong Garden Centre
Keter rolls out garden centre shed trial
Stewart featured in Parliamentary Review Manufacturing
Approval granted for £7m garden centre redevelopment
New climate control investment ensures peak freshness for Allensmore’s Christmas wreaths and planters
Thrive’s work with young people with special educational needs in Birmingham gains momentum
Gardman donates Poppy Bird Feeder kits to The Royal British Legion Care Homes
Wyevale Nurseries’ staff offer advice on career to grow into
Use your social media, e-mails and website for Christmas Customer Votes
Plantarea Supervisor Manager (Berkshire)
Garden Centre Sundries Shop Manager (Kent)
Plantarea Assistant (Oxfordshire)
Garden Sundries Manager (Oxfordshire)
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Vitax’s consumer-focused website goes live
Evenings draw in and lighting sales increase
Top 50 Christmas products up 20% year on year
A dozen compost lines are still growing sales
Bulbs provide welcome boost to plant sales
Spruce is Garden Plant of the Month for December
Ken White takes over chair of the APL
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Notcutts Norwich apologises after 'technical' issues at new restaurant
Cotswold Fayre to hold New Product Launch Shows
Situations Vacant
Plantarea Supervisor Manager (Berkshire)
Salary: Excellent
 
Read more»
Garden Centre Sundries Shop Manager (Kent)
Salary: £35,000 - £38,000
 
Read more»
Plantarea Assistant (Oxfordshire)
Salary: £18,000 - £22,000
 
Read more»
Garden Sundries Manager (Oxfordshire)
Salary: To attract the best
 
Read more»
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Contact us with your news. 

Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700



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Book your tickets for GTN's Greatest Christmas Party on Sunday January 8th 2017 by calling 01733 775700


Thrive’s work with young people with special educational needs in Birmingham gains momentum


A gardening programme helping young people with special educational needs (SEN) in Kings Heath Park, Birmingham run by the charity Thrive has been praised and received a grant of almost £20,000 from The Rowan Trust.

Thrive uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable.

The charity – which has gardens in London, Reading, Birmingham and Gateshead - works with people recovering from injuries, those with learning difficulties or physical or sensory impairment, people with mental illness or with age-related diseases, and young people with behavioural difficulties.

Thrive also runs therapeutic programmes in community settings such as village halls, schools and hospitals, which are designed to improve physical and psychological health, strengthen personal, life and vocational skills and reduce social isolation.

The Grow and Learn programme in Birmingham offers practical training in gardening to support young people (aged 14-19) with SEN and complex needs. It helps them develop personal and life skills, improve their work skills and allows them to study a City & Guilds qualification in horticulture (Level 1 Practical Horticulture skills or Level 1 in Work-Based Horticulture depending on ability).

The Rowan Trust  said they were very impressed by the project and Elizabeth Robinson visited Thrive and said: “I was delighted to see these young people as they learn from the experienced horticultural therapists at Thrive and look forward to seeing how they develop.”

Horticultural therapists work with students once a week in the classroom and helps them develop practical gardening skills and learn about healthy living and lifestyles.  Thrive expects them to develop confidence and self-esteem and the charity’s approach is tailored to enable students to progress at their own speed.  

Angela MacVeigh, Deputy Head at Chadsgrove School whose pupils attend Thrive, said: “I was so impressed with all that you are achieving at Thrive and I can see why the pupils like it so much.”

Thrive’s horticultural therapists work with students and their support team to establish individual needs and aspirations, then create Individual Development Programmes (IDPs) to ensure outcomes are achieved.

Several teachers have reported an increase in their student’s participation in other activities as their confidence grows and they share successes with their classmates.

Amanda Fields, Thrive regional manager in Birmingham, said: “Students on Grow and Learn face real disadvantage.  They are young people with high support needs and whilst they may aspire to gain and hold down a job, many will struggle to achieve this goal.

“In the transition to adult life, children with a learning disability and complex needs are disadvantaged; they are often socially excluded and can live with a sense of failure and under-achievement.

 

“Alienation from their peers results in higher truancy rates, which exacerbate poor academic achievement.  Grow and Learn is designed to fill a gap to help these young people by offering informal learning in an out-of-school environment.

 

“It aims to improve their life chances and place them in a stronger position to discover new skills and talents, which will move them on.

 

“Without support these young people can feel their choices are limited – with many feeling that their only option as an adult is to attend a day centre.  We are helping to prepare them to take the next step, whether that is into further training, volunteering, or employment.”
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