GCA Charity Day & Gala Dinner Raises Over £44000 for three worthy charities: Greenfingers, Perennial, and The Colegrave Seabrook Foundation.
GCA CEO Peter Burks highlighted the success of the GCA Charity Day, held on Sunday (January 28), and various fundraising activities throughout the conference. This year, the Sunday event included a visit to Melcourt Industries’ growing media facilities and a tour of Ramsbury Brewery and Distillery. The day featured a fundraising quiz hosted by Guy Topping at Ramsbury, with over 60 participants. Team “The Cabbages,” composed of supplier members, triumphed over “The Pansies,” representing garden centres. Proceeds from the day were directed towards the charities.
A mega raffle, conducted during the conference, allowed attendees to purchase tickets at their preferred value. Envelopes were placed at every seat and table, ensuring broad participation.
The Tuesday night Gala Dinner draw proved to be a major fundraising highlight, with Evergreen Garden Care auctioning its last peat-based Miracle-Gro compost bag, a piece of history, won by Terry Head of Stewarts Garden Centres. Evergreen’s generous donations included 12 pallets of peat-free compost and 24 pallets of Miracle-Gro for the grand draw.
Ian Flounders from Woodlodge contributed to the charitable spirit by shaving off his beard for a good cause. The Gala Dinner, filled with enjoyment and generosity, contributed significantly to the fundraising efforts.
The GCA conference brought together over 200 garden centres nationwide, fostering information exchange and promoting high standards in customer service, plant quality, and reliability through its inspection program.
For more information about the Garden Centre Association, visit www.gca.org.uk.