A new Mental Health & Wellbeing course has been launched this month on the GCA's Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) e-Learning platform.

This is the 94th course to be added and it’s available to all GCA member garden centres and their teams, and to Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) garden centres too.

GROW’s Instructional Designer, Antony Snow, says: “Understanding more about mental health has never been so important, so I’m delighted to have launched this course on Mental Health & Wellbeing, which has been produced in response to several requests from our members.

“All of our members take the mental health of their employees extremely seriously and hopefully this course will complement the efforts that they have already made to help their staff to recognise the signs and symptoms, reduce the stigma associated with them, and improve overall wellbeing in their centres.”

GROW courses cover a wide range of essential topics to help employees gain confidence and knowledge about products and services, so they can effectively assist any customers and colleagues who need help.

GCA CEO, Peter Burks says: “GROW is a cost-effective way of providing staff training and personal development. It’s accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, making it convenient for staff to use when best for them. Our members say it’s an invaluable tool.

“If you’d like further details on GROW and this course or any of the others offered, please get in touch. There is also a section on our website www.gca.org.uk/gca-grow-information and people can contact the team via a dedicated email grow@gca.org.uk.”

GROW started as an initial idea, devised during a strategy meeting of the GCA’s executive committee, to bring education and training tailored to individuals employed in the garden centre industry.

It’s a self-funding and non-profit facility with any surpluses being reinvested into its ongoing development and improvement. There are currently 94 courses and more than 12,000 users throughout the UK.

These courses include a wide range of topics that cover horticulture, customer service, food safety, regulated sales and health and safety.

All the courses have been written by experts in their field and are designed to apply to a garden centre environment, with the content for the horticultural courses drawing on the vast experience of members within the GCA.