Putting their best foot forward: Team Briers survive the Garden Re-Leaf Day 20-mile charity walk

Six members of the Briers team took on the gruelling Garden Re-Leaf 20 mile walk, all in aid of the wholly deserving Greenfingers charity.

Taking place in rural and central Cambridgeshire, the team – Jackie Eades, Sharmini Martin, Tristan Sissons, Mandy James, Charlotte Prentice and Matt Jackson, who ran the course – were battered by strong winds, freezing temperatures and enough leg cramps to last a lifetime.

All but one member of the team completed the route (sadly injury saw one Brier walker bow out early) with the last member of ‘Team Briers’ crossing the finish line in just under eight hours.

Jackie Eades, managing director at Briers, said: “Team Briers are so pleased to have been part of what was the most successful Garden Re-Leaf Walk to date. It was a tough slog at times, but knowing what our efforts were contributing to helped us dig deep and keep walking.”

This year’s Garden Re-Leaf Walk raised an amazing £24,500, with over 100 walkers and runners taking part. In addition to walking, Briers were also incredibly proud to be part of the efforts behind the walk, helping the Greenfingers team to encourage more walkers and drive awareness of the event. The company’s bestselling gloves also helped raise much needed funds with a donation from each sale going to the charity. The popular children’s gardening sets also added even more to the total, with 50p from each set sold being donated directly to Greenfingers.

Jackie added: “Garden Re-Leaf Day is an amazing event and means so much on a number of levels. Firstly, it works to kick start the season, bringing the industry together to do something fun and to start thinking about the season ahead of us. But more importantly, it helps us to raise much needed funds for Greenfingers. The work that the charity undertakes every day is incredible, and I sincerely hope that our efforts work to offer some comfort to those families that that rely on Greenfingers each year. Knowing that we have been able to help – even if just a little bit – really drives you to do more, and Team Briers will certainly be back in force to make Garden Re-Leaf Day 2018 even bigger and more exciting.”

Linda Petrons, from Greenfingers said: “What an amazing turnout we’ve had again for Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day. From our walkers, runners and four legged friends to our bakers, raffle sellers, quizzers, Plant-athoners, Meg-athoners and QVC suppliers, we are enormously grateful to all of you for your ongoing support, helping Greenfingers Charity continue its work making a difference to life-limited children, and their families who spend time in hospices. Our thanks go to Briers for their ongoing support, and endless enthusiasm. It really does mean the world to us.”

Linda’s thoughts were also echoed by Boyd Douglas Davies, the founding father of Garden Re-Leaf Day. He said post-walk: "What a great day, and what an incredible turnout - the industry, Scotsdales and the Greenfingers team did us proud! I'm chuffed to bits with the event, the amazing spirit of all those involved, and of course the amount raised.”

To find out more about Team Briers please visit www.briersltd.co.uk. Further details about the 2017 Garden Re-Leaf Day can be found at www.greenfingerscharity.org.uk/a-million-thanks-for-getting-involved-in-greenfingers-garden-re-leaf-day

Briers Ltd is the UK market leading manufacturer of garden gloves, footwear, kids gardening, garden gifting, indoor and outdoor clocks, plus branded ranges.
Launched in 1999 with only four pairs of gloves, selling to local garden centres, they now supply numerous gardening and lifestyle retailers with thousands of different SKUs.