Suppliers, retailers and associates from the garden industry applauded the recent announcement by Greenfingers – that the fourth annual Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day (27th March) was the most successful ever, raising in excess of £95,000.
This year, fundraising highlights included the i2i’s Glee team organised London Thames Path Walk; Richard Jackson’s QVC shows that raised over £40,000 over three days; ‘guess the length of string’, ‘soak the boss’ and Easter egg hunts all taking place at garden centres across the UK; and of course the ‘Glovies’ campaign which raised over £10,000 thanks to donations from the sales of gloves by Briers and Town and Country.
Greenfingers Trustee and Garden Re-Leaf Day Founder Boyd Douglas-Davies announced the total raised in 2015 as exactly £95,025.31 – 30% up on the total reached last year. Speaking to attendees at the annual GIMA Awards at Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales last night, he praised the combined efforts of the hundreds of garden centre teams, suppliers and individuals that took part over the past four years.
The grand total raised now stands at over £270,000, which Boyd summarised as being over a quarter of a million pounds raised in only four days; an incredible achievement. Rosy cheeks all round Greenfingers’ Rosy Cheeks Fund – a two year campaign to raise £750,000 to build at least 10 new gardens was also hailed as a success, bringing the total number of children’s hospice gardens built by Greenfingers to 49.
The charity’s Head of Fundraising, Linda Petrons attended the GIMA Awards, and expressed her gratitude to those she met. She said: “The support we continue to receive from the garden industry is just amazing. Without your help, children and families that use hospices would not have access to an outside space for which to play with their children away from the pressures they face in care, and would also sadly not have a special place to remember those that have passed. Thank you so very much – we hope you will all continue to support us in the future!”
New campaign – ‘Million Moments’
Looking ahead to the 2016 campaign and beyond, it has been confirmed that the focus will be on raising £1million in three years, helping the charity to source additional funds for 16 new gardens at children’s hospices across the UK. More details on how to get involved in next year’s fundraising day will be available at Glee this year.
