The next Garden Re-Leaf day will be on Friday 27 March 2015 so now’s the time to start planning your events to gain extra publicity at the start of the season, have some fun and raise money for Greenfingers too.

From 2015, the day, now firmly established in the horticultural calendar, will be known as the Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day, with a new logo to reflect the name change. Greenfingers has been the benefiting charity since the event’s inception and the changes aim to reinforce the charitable focus and its significance in Greenfingers fundraising strategy.

Deborah Skillicorn, Greenfingers Charity Director, said: “Garden Re-Leaf Day has become much more than a small fundraiser – it has become a nationwide event, bringing in valuable new supporters from the gardening industry, and helping us to realise more magical gardens for children in hospices across the country.  So this year, we have made a conscious decision to reinforce our commitment to making Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day 2015 the best yet.”

Greenfingers is dedicated to creating much needed gardens at children’s hospices around the UK, providing well designed, stimulating spaces for children with life-limiting conditions, and their families, to enjoy. It is hoped funds raised from Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day 2015 will help create new gardens for many more hospices, including ones in Huddersfield, Kent and Sunderland.

This year’s activities raised £60,000, with events such as the celebrity quiz and the Loose Change promotion - both of which will return for 2015 - joined by a raft of new ideas to help retailers get the most out of the event.

Now is the time for retailers, suppliers and manufacturers to plan their events for March 2015. So take advantage of ideas like these from the Greenfingers team.

Get Planting

Garden Re-Leaf Day is the gardening industry’s main event, so remind everyone where it begins by launching a family sunflower planting event, or even a cress head competition.  Photos of cress heads will be uploaded to social media sites via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and using the hashtag #GRLcresshead

Get Baking  

With the popularity of baking at an all time high, having a baking competition and selling the entries to customers could raise funds - and prove a very tasty idea!

Get Sporty

After all those cakes, you’ll need an exercise bike in your centre to work off the extra pounds!  Healthy, morale boosting and teambuilding – this is a great way of involving as many people as possible, creating a spectacle and encouraging customers to donate. Why not set the overall distance target to be the same as:

*          Cycling to other centres in your group

*          Cycling to your top 5 suppliers (get them to sponsor their leg!)

*          Cycling from your head office to Greenfingers head office in Buckinghamshire

Get thinking

By hosting the ever-popular Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day quiz you can put on a fantastic evening event using a pack provided containing everything you need to set it up.

Get selling

Garden Re-Leaf’s Loose Change promotion got off to a good start last year, but there is still a need for more suppliers to get involved.  For retailers this is a great opportunity to set up a high profile stand of promotions with your favourite manufacturers.

Garden Re-Leaf Day founder, Boyd Douglas-Davies who recently became a trustee at Greenfingers, said: “March 27 is the perfect date for Garden Re-Leaf Day. Not only is it the last Friday of the month, payday for most people, and when they will be most likely to donate - it also comes one week before Easter. So from a purely retail point of view, this is an unmissable opportunity to get customers in your store a week earlier and prolong the peak season.”