|
|
|
Come on, feel the noise!
Make the most of the commercial opportunity provided by Garden ReLeaf Day
With the second Garden ReLeaf day just 40 days away, Boyd Douglas-Davies and the other Garden ReLeaf Day organisers are urging everyone in the UK garden industry to make the most of this golden commercial opportunity...
With the second Garden ReLeaf day just 40 days away, Boyd Douglas-Davies and the other Garden ReLeaf Day organisers are urging everyone in the UK garden industry to make the most of this golden commercial opportunity.
Addressing the Garden Centre Association conference today Boyd urged the industry to get right behind Garden ReLeaf Day. He said the event had three objectives: 1.To gain national coverage for Garden ReLeafe Day; 2. To allow customers to have fun and spend money; 3. To raise money for Greenfingers.
"After the success of last year's inaugural Garden ReLeaf Day the national media have really got the bug and are queuing up to give us what we set the day up for initially - high levels of media coverage about gardening to kick start the season," said Boyd.
"All garden centres and suppliers who took part last year gained great early impetus for their sales as a result so let's make sure more gardening businesses get the Garden ReLeaf kick start effect too! "It's really easy to take part, follow the lead from one of the events staged last year or engage in one of this year's initiatives and most importantly TELL THE GARDEN RELEAF team about your event so that it can be included in all the National media briefings. "Once you decide to get involved it's also a great way for your team to have some fun at the start of the season and energise your customers. You'll even find it very easy to do some simple fundraising for Greenfingers along the way - last year Garden ReLeaf DAY raised over £50,000 for Greenfingers to build another garden at a children's hospice - how many gardens can we get funding for this year?" So get your commercial hat on and work out how you can get the most media coverage for your business right at the start of the Season. Garden ReLeaf Day is your passport to achieving it.
More Garden ReLeaf information can be found on their website www.gardenreleaf.co.uk
 |
|
Discover how you can get involved...
In this special Garden ReLeaf Day and GCA Conference edition of GTN Xtra we highlight all the activities and initiatives that will make this event another success story for the industry...
|
|
|
|
Tell us your Garden Re-Leaf day plans, urge organisers
Garden centres and other organisations running Garden Re-Leaf Day activities in March need to send organisers basic details of their plans by Friday, February 8 at the latest, in order to be included in the event's national and regional media publicity drive...
Garden centres and other organisations running Garden Re-Leaf Day activities in March need to send organisers basic details of their plans by Friday, February 8 at the latest, in order to be included in the event's national and regional media publicity drive.
Participants should email info@gardenreleaf.co.uk with a short overview of their Garden Re-Leaf Day activities. Details will then be included in Garden Re-Leaf Day’s 2013 activity listings, which will soon be posted on the imminent new Garden Re-Leaf Day website and communicated to national and regional media in the run-up to the event.
In addition garden centres are also being encouraged to contact their local media themselves by around 20th February, in order to generate additional local pre-publicity and help bring additional customers in-store across the Garden Re-Leaf Day weekend.
Garden Re-Leaf’s founder, Hillview Garden Centre’s Chief Executive Boyd Douglas Davies, who will be speaking about Garden Re-Leaf Day at the the GCA Conference (January 27-30), confirmed: “We know that garden centres and manufacturers across the country are taking part in Garden Re-Leaf Day, but many have not sent us details of what they are doing.
"It’s vital that they email us as soon as possible with brief details, so we can log their participation and also tell the media.”
Garden Re-Leaf Day is the national, annual initiative designed to get shoppers in-store at the start of the spring gardening season, engage with gardeners, and raise money for Garden Re-Leaf Day’s designated charity, Greenfingers.
Hundreds of garden centres, growers, manufacturers and distributors are expected to run events on the day and across the weekend; ranging from Garden Re-Leaf Day’s nationally-coordinated activities to their own, bespoke local events and initiatives to get the gardening season started.
Industry support for this year’s Garden Re-Leaf Day is continuing to build, with The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), The Garden Industry Manufacturers Association (GIMA) and The Garden Centre Association (GCA) all putting their weight behind the scheme and urging members to take part.
Garden centres taking part include The Garden Centre Group, Webbs of Wychbold, Aylett Nurseries and Scotsdales.
|
|
Inaugural Garden Re-Leaf Day raised £52,341 for Greenfingers
The first Garden Re-Leaf Day raised an amazing £52,341 for the industry's Greenfingers charity with the final figure being announced at the GIMA Awards last July...
The first Garden Re-Leaf Day raised an amazing £52,341 for the industry's Greenfingers charity with the final figure being announced at the GIMA Awards last July...
Hillview’s Boyd Douglas-Davies (above left) announced (in spades) that March’s inaugural Garden Re-Leaf Day had not only got the gardening season off to a flying start (before the rain stopped it) but also raised £52,341 for Greenfingers.
And (above) GIMA President Nigel Thompson handed over a cheque for £4,100, a share of £8,300 raised through their charity Golf Day in March, to Caroline Owen of Scotsdales, who sits on the Greenfingers committee.
Take up the Westland Challenge
Westland Horticulture is running a ‘Westland Challenge’ offering £6,000-worth of Gro-Sure All Purpose compost...
Westland Horticulture is running a ‘Westland Challenge’ offering £6,000-worth of Gro-Sure All Purpose compost to the retailer that is judged to run the most effective Garden Re-Leaf Day campaign.
Largest ever industry fundraiser as Garden Re-Leaf gripped the nation
The inaugural Garden Re-Leaf Day on 13 March, 2012, was a resounding success, with hundreds of garden centres and other industry players hosting a range of activities to raise money for Greenfingers...
The inaugural Garden Re-Leaf Day on 13 March, 2012, was a resounding success, with hundreds of garden centres and other industry players hosting a range of activities to raise money for Greenfingers – and kick-start interest in the new gardening season...
Events included fancy dress days, competitions and projects in the local community, bake-offs, raffles, and the Celebrity Gardening Quiz.
Local children learn how to pot up seeds for the Grow Your Own promotion at Cadbury Garden & Leisure after Pippa Greenwood gave a talk in association with Stewart Garden.
Frosts Garden Centre's longest-serving employee Maurice Rust taught local children how to garden.
The Plant Doctor at Old Railway Line Garden Centre diagnosed customers' gardening problems.
The Garden Centre Association host garden-style Olympics
On your marks, get set, go...it's the GCA Horticultural Olympics. Garden centre and industry staff took part in a special fundraising event for Greenfingers during a break from this week's GCA annual conference...
On your marks, get set, go...it's the GCA Horticultural Olympics. Garden centre and industry staff took part in a special fundraising event for Greenfingers during a break from this week's GCA annual conference.
Two teams led by Guy Topping, Managing Director of Barton Grange Garden Centre, and Adam Taylor, Director of Taylors Bulbs, went head-to-head at the Horticultural Olympics.
Competitors took part in a variety of events including fencepost tossing, shot put, archery, welly boot throwing and a wheelbarrow race.
Guy Topping's GCA Pansies Team (pictured above) earned the most points overall to win the Greenfingers Challenge Cup.
All the competitors got into the swing of things and as well as a showing a really competitive spirit, everyone enjoyed the fun atmosphere.
GTN Xtra's Mike Wyatt was present with his camera to capture all the spills and thrills and here's a selection of his pictures.
|
|
|
|
Find out what happened in 2012!
One of the most hair-raising moments of Garden Re-Leaf Day 2012 was when Cadbury's store manager Paul Butchers had a strip torn off him...literally! For more examples of how garden centres got involved in 2012 click here
One of the most hair-raising moments of Garden Re-Leaf Day 2012 was when Cadbury's store manager Paul Butchers had a strip torn off him...literally!
Numerous activities at Cadbury Garden & Leisure, which included Paul's painful body waxing, a talk by Pippa Greenwood, and fancy dress by staff, raised a total of over £1,000.
Cadbury organiser Faye Baker said: “Raising money for charity in this way raises people’s spirits and it is a great way to involve everyone, staff, customers and local schools alike."
For more examples of how garden centres got involved in 2012 click here
|
|
|
Making it easy for garden centres to take part
Several ready-made, nationally available events and product promotions have been created to make it easy for garden centres to take part. Here are some of them...
Scotsdales Garden Centre are again throwing down the gauntlet to other garden centres nationwide by offering the Scotsdales Cup to the retailer that raises the most monies through Garden Re-Leaf Day.
In 2012 Scotsdales itself won the Scotsdales Cup, having raised more than £6,800 for Greenfingers.
Caroline Owen, Managing Director of Scotsdales and President of the HTA said: “Garden Re-Leaf Day is a great day for the Scotsdales team here to focus on, working together to raise money for the Greenfingers charity – as well as having some fun and focusing on the start of the gardening year.”
William Sinclair Horticulture
William Sinclair Horticulture has created a special retailer promotion offering up to 4,000 cases of J. Arthur Bower’s Tomato and Tub & Basket Plant Food at just £1 per unit...
William Sinclair Horticulture has created a special retailer promotion offering up to 4,000 cases of J. Arthur Bower’s Tomato and Tub & Basket Plant Food at just £1 per unit, to stockists ordering at least one pallet of J. Arthur Bower’s Top Soil.
Sinclair will be donating 2p to Greenfingers per bag of topsoil sold, and £1 for every case of six plant food bottles sold.
Donation to Greenfingers
Leading supplier of garden, décor and leisure brands Solus is also giving retailers an easy way to support Garden Re-Leaf Day.
Leading supplier of garden, décor and leisure brands Solus is also giving retailers an easy way to support Garden Re-Leaf Day.
The company will donate 50p to Greenfingers for every Yeoman Compact Flower Snips deadheading tool sold, and supply a free cardboard display unit, to retailers ordering at least four packs of ten of the useful tool.
£5,000 prize fund in Find the Winning Plot
The HTA has launched a ready-made, spot-the-ball-style competition called ‘Find The Winning Plot’, and Director General Carol Paris has urged retailers to take part...
For National Garden Gift Voucher (NGGV) stockists the HTA has launched a ready-made, spot-the-ball-style competition called ‘Find The Winning Plot’.
Offering a £5,000 NGGV prize pot split between 200 stockists, it is hoped the competitions will help to raise at least £20,000 for Greenfingers.
In addition all 1,600 HTA members can receive a specially produced, free-of-charge Garden Re-Leaf Day Fund-Raising Pack on request.
Carol Paris (above), Director General at the Horticultural Trades Association, said: "Participants in Garden Re-Leaf Day last year not only did an incredible fund-raising job, they also reaped the rewards in terms of customer engagement, product sales and repeat visits.
The HTA is encouraging every member to take part in 2013."The HTA's 'Find the Winning Plot' pack and fund-raising pack will be available from 1st February on the following link
Celebrity Garden Quiz
The GCA is also co-ordinating another ready-made, nationally-available Garden Re-Leaf Day activity, the Celebrity Gardening Quiz..
The GCA is also co-ordinating another ready-made, nationally-available Garden Re-Leaf Day activity, the Celebrity Gardening Quiz.
Available in kit form, the quiz providesan easy-to-run, fun event around which other fundraising initiatives, such as coffee mornings and gardening demonstrations, can be arranged.
The kit includes a CD of questions set and recorded by TV and radio gardeners David Domoney, Christine Walkden, Joe Swift, Toby Buckland, Pippa Greenwood, Matthew Biggs, Peter Seabrook and Bob Flowerdew – plus a message from Alan Titchmarsh - as well as marketing and PR materials.
|
|
|
|
