Garden centre and horticultural industry staff can now (January, 2020) sign up for a fundraising event being held at the Garden Centre Association’s annual conference (January 26 – 29). Teams will compete for the Greenfingers Challenge Cup during an afternoon of ‘orse racin’ on January 26 at The Mercure Bristol, Grand Hotel to raise money for Greenfingers, which creates gardens at children’s hospices.
Ian Flounders from Woodlodge Products, who captains The Cabbages team, made up of garden centre suppliers, said: “In the spirit of recycling and reusing and in keeping with the theme of this year’s conference, we’ve decided to bring back our favourite event from conferences gone by.
“The Cabbages, headed up by myself, and The Pansies, made up of garden centre staff and headed up by Guy Topping, will compete in an afternoon of horse racing and take on the brand-new course ‘The Greenfingers Grand’.
“Last year we raised £6,500 for the charity and we’re hoping to beat this total this year, so we’re asking anyone who hasn’t yet signed up and would like to, to get in touch via captaincabbage@woodlodge.co.uk or call 07917 425966.
“The Pansies lifted the cup last year, but this year The Cabbages are coming for their crown. Guy and I have also arranged a special something to take place in the evening for GCA members.
“Ultimately, our main aim is to raise as much money as possible to help our fantastic charity and we hope lots of people get involved.”
If any companies would like to sponsor the event with an advertising space on the course, they can get in touch with Ian.
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 their help now.
The GCA represents nearly 200 garden centres nationwide.
Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.
The Greenfingers Challenge Cup ‘Orse Racin’ will take place at The Mercure Bristol, Grand Hotel on Sunday, January 26 from 4pm.
The GCA’s annual conference takes place at the The Mercure Bristol, Grand Hotel from January 26 until 29, 2020.
The conference is open to GCA members only (garden centres and suppliers), and the full programme can be found in the members’ area of the GCA website along with the online booking facility. Bookings are ahead of last year but there are still places left.
For other information, please call 01244 952170, visit www.gca.org.uk, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAssociation or follow the organisation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.
