Garden centre team wins Greenfingers Challenge Cup

Members of the Garden Centre Association (GCA) are celebrating after being crowned winners of the Beach, Bingo and Boogie event last Sunday (January 26, 2013) and raising £9,600 for Greenfingers.

The seaside-themed event, which was held at the Hilton Blackpool Hotel, marked the start of the GCA annual conference and saw the garden centre team, the Pansies, take the crown.
 
Will Armitage, Chairman of the GCA, explained: “Our fundraising events have become a bit of a tradition now to kick off the annual conference. We really look forward to the events every year as they’re great fun to take part in.
 
“This year we hosted the Beach, Bingo and Boogie, which included beach games such as volleyball and cricket, followed by traditional seaside fish and chips and an evening of bingo. We rounded things off with a bit of a boogie.”
 
A team of garden centre staff went head-to-head with a team of suppliers for the event. The winners, who received the most points overall, were the garden centre team.
 
Guy Topping, Managing Director of Barton Grange Garden Centre, who was captain of the garden centre team, said: “We had lots of fun taking part in the Beach, Bingo and Boogie event. We’re thrilled to have been the winning team and to have helped raise money for Greenfingers.”
 
Greenfingers was launched in November 1998 by a group of volunteers drawn from all sectors of the gardening industry.
 
Growers, plant breeders, retailers, manufacturers and a host of gardening journalists and celebrities have willingly contributed materials, time and expertise to create gardens at children’s hospices around the UK.
 
For further information, please call 01993 871456. Alternatively, please visit www.gca.org.uk, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/Garden-Centre-Association or follow the organisation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.