IT IS official…green-fingered folk know a bargain when they see one and they are even prepared to brave the elements and loose some sleep to get their hands on it too.

Hundreds of shoppers, including representatives from the Bridgwater charity Bridgcap, dug out their wet weather clothing and queued for the start of the Sanders GardenWorld® end of season sale at 9am on Thursday, December 27, 2007.

A handful of the hardiest camped out at the award-winning Brent Knoll garden centre from early in the morning on Thursday and travelled from as far a field as Crediton in Devon to be the first through the garden centre’s doors at 9am to snap up the best bargains.

Garden centre boss Peter Burks explained: “We allowed people to queue in advance if they wanted to and several came early in the morning to be the first in at 9am.”

Items up for grabs during the grand sale, which runs while stocks last, include lawn mowers, hot tubs, plants, furniture and gardening tools and equipment.

Peter added: “Lots of products are half price including some items of garden furniture. There are hundreds and thousands of pounds to be saved on selected products.

One of the hot tubs in the sale has been reduced by more than 60% from £7,695 to £2,500 and bargain hunters can also pick up others that have been reduced by 30% to less than £2,000.

The sale started at 9am on Thursday, December 27, 2007 and will continue while stocks last. People are advised to check times, dates and other details before travelling any distance.

Photograph captions:

Left
Bridgcap the Bridgwater-based charity for disabled and special needs children used the bargains at Sanders GardenWorld® Christmas sale to help with a fundraising bingo. From left are Bridgcap’s Joan Parker, Tracey Perks, Peter Burks, Managing Director of Sanders GardenWorld® and Phillip Parker also from the charity.

Phillip Parker at Bridgcap can be contacted by the media only for additional information on 01278 458209.

Right
Phil Heycock from Weston-super-Mare tests the water in his bargain hot tub from the Sanders GardenWorld® with Hot Tub Department Manager Mike Joannou.

For further media details, please contact Peter Burks, Managing Director of Sanders GardenWorld®, on 01278 761139 (direct dial).

PEOPLE who want to turn over a new ‘green’ leaf at the start of 2008 are being offered the chance to recycle their Christmas cards at a Somerset garden centre.

Sanders GardenWorld® in Brent Knoll will be recycling the cards as part of the garden centre’s award-winning recycling initiatives.

Peter Burks, Managing Director of Sanders GardenWorld®, said: “We have decided to recycle all of our customers’ old Christmas cards and we will plant native trees within our Woodland Trust designated area in Somerset to replace the trees cut down to make the cards. Those who visit us from January 2 until January 31 can pop in with their cards and start 2008 by turning over a new, green leaf.”

This year (2007) the garden centre has invested in more recycling and purchasing initiatives to benefit the environment.

Peter added: “We take our carbon emissions very seriously and are keen to develop our environmental policies further during the coming years. We already recycle water, paper and plastics and have recently won three major national awards for our recycling programmes, beating off competition from the likes of supermarket giant Tesco, High Street retailers the Acardia Group and homeware experts Habitat.

The garden centre has also pledged to reduce the number of ‘plant miles’ it is notching up by reducing the distance plants travel and therefore cutting back on the energy required to deliver them to the garden centre.

Peter added: “We are also buying more plants from nurseries in the South West and increasing our local suppliers. Buying local and supporting the local economy is just as important with regards plants as it is food and reducing food miles. ‘Plant miles’ is a new concept we have developed.”Sanders GardenWorld® won an accolade at the annual industry-led UK Garden Centre of the Year awards for its recycling programmes under the Business Initiative category. At the same awards ceremony it was given the title of 2007 Overall UK Garden Centre of Year and was praised by judges for its forward thinking.

Since opening in 2001 Sanders GardenWorld® has been dedicated to recycling rain and waste water - it has its own water system, which collects rain water, re-filters it and stores it ready to use for watering the centre’s plants. It is also used for the main water fountains, which form the centre-piece for its outdoor plant area.

The site has been committed to recycling cardboard since March 2001, plastic recycling was introduced in September 2001 and from January 2006 the garden centre began recycling glass. To date thousands of gallons of water have been re-used and more than 250 tonnes of cardboard have been recycled.

It is currently undergoing accreditation for ISO 14001, which was first published as a standard in 1996 and it specifies the requirements for an organisation’s environmental management system. It applies to those environmental aspects over which an organisation has control and where it can be expected to have an influence.

Sanders GardenWorld® was bought by Wyevale Garden Centres in 2007 and is one of the chain’s ‘garden centres of excellence. Other garden centre’s in the chain are also taking part in recycling initiatives in 2008 and the company has devised a 10 point environmental policy it is implementing at all its sites.

If you would like to recycle your Christmas cards, please take them to Sanders GardenWorld®, which is located just off junction 22 of the M5, between January 2 and 31.

For more information about the recycling scheme, please call the garden centre on 01278 761111

Photograph caption: Sanders GardenWorld® Managing Director, Peter Burks with Christmas cards at the Brent Knoll garden centre.

For further media details, please contact Peter Burks, Managing Director of Sanders GardenWorld®, on 01278 761139 (direct dial).

A DAREDEVIL-THEMED circus show that includes a ‘wheel of death’ act and an acrobatic trampolining extravaganza is on site at Sanders GardenWorld® in Brent Knoll.

Circus Americano, which includes a new line-up this year featuring Columbia’s Los Marinos, a father and son duo with a performance on the high wire and in the ‘wheel of death’ and the Bulgarian-born acrobatic and trampolining act ‘The Julio Troupe’, will be at the garden centre from December 10 until January 6, 2008.

GardenWorld® Managing Director, Peter Burks explained: “Circus Americano was a huge hit with people both young and old last year. It was a spectacular show so we have asked them back to perform a new festive routine this Christmas. The daredevil theme sounds very exciting and we are all looking forward to seeing the new performance.”

Circus Americano, which was filmed by UK TV Gold and Channel Four last year for two separate programmes, is performing two shows a day at the garden centre.

Paul Carpenter, Ringmaster and Press Officer at Circus Americano, said: “We have added new acts this year and have upped the ‘wow’ factor for our third visit to Somerset. If all goes to plan it will be by far the biggest show we have brought to Sanders GardenWorld® to date.”

As well as Los Marinos and The Julio Troupe, the other new acts included in the festive 2007 line-up are clowns Kakehole, Popol and Mini Me.

A pirate adventure and an appearance from Spiderman will also add to the entertainment.

Circus Americano will be at the garden centre from Monday, December 10, 2007 until Sunday, January 6, 2008, with shows performed at 4pm and 6.30pm everyday, except Sundays, Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. On these days the shows will be at 2pm and 5pm. There will be no show on Christmas Day.

Adult premier tickets cost £14 and children/OAP tickets cost £12. Ring side seats cost £12 for adults and £10 for children/OAPs and ordinary tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £8 for children/OAPs.

Photograph caption: Acrobatic and trampoline act The Julio Troupe.

IT’S OFFICIAL…Spiderman returns to Somerset this December to be one of the headline acts in a big top circus show.

Circus Americano, which has been featured on national television this year, will be back at Sanders GardenWorld® in Brent Knoll for the third year running this Christmas as part of the garden centre’s festive celebrations and tickets go on sale in September.

Garden centre Managing Director, Peter Burks explained: “Circus Americano was a huge hit with people both young and old last year. It was a spectacular show so we have asked them back to perform a new festive routine this Christmas. We’re particularly pleased Spiderman will be part of this year’s show again especially as a new Spiderman film was released this summer.

“To avoid disappointment we’re going to start selling tickets from September 1 this year so that as many people as possible are in with the chance of seeing the show.”

Circus Americano, which was filmed by UK TV Gold and Channel Four last year for two separate programmes, will be at the garden centre for 28 days from Monday, December 10, 2007 until Sunday, January 6, 2008.

Paul Carpenter, Ringmaster and Press Officer at Circus Americano, said: “We are looking at adding new acts this year and if all goes to plan it will be by far the biggest show we have brought to Sanders GardenWorld® to date.”

Tickets go on sale on September 1, 2007 from Sanders GardenWorld®, which is the 2007 industry-voted Garden Centre of the Year.

Photograph caption: Spiderman from Circus Americano at Sanders GardenWorld®.

PEOPLE from Somerset are being invited to SGW in February 2008 to help celebrate one of the nation’s favourite vegetables.

Visitors to Sanders GardenWorld® will have the chance to learn about the potato and the various benefits of growing spuds at the Brent Knoll garden centre’s seventh annual Potato Weekend on Saturday, February 2 and Sunday, February 3.

Peter Burks, Managing Director at Sanders GardenWorld®, said: “This is the seventh year we have run our Potato Weekend and each year it keeps getting bigger and better.

"There will be free information on selecting, planting, caring and harvesting the crop along with suggestions for eating potatoes. We will also be running our famous potato modelling competition."

This fun competition is designed to challenge children to create weird and wonderful creatures and little people from potatoes.

Peter added: "The competition is designed to be fun and we want as many youngsters as possible to enter. We will have the models on display in store during the weekend and customers will be asked to vote for the best ones via a ballot box. The models can be any shape or size and the more interesting the better."

People who attend the event will also be able to get free potato recipes for ideas on how to ‘jazz’ up their potato dishes.

Potato Weekend will take place on Saturday, February 2 and Sunday, February 3, 2008.

Sanders GardenWorld®, which is the UK’s 2007 industry-voted Garden Centre of the Year, has recently been bought by Wyevale Garden Centres and is one of the chain’s ‘garden centres of excellence’.

For further details, please contact the garden centre on 01278 761111

"Fantasmagorical" car to take Santa to his grotto

ONE of the nation’s favourite four-wheeled film stars returns to Somerset this December (2007) to collect Santa from Bristol Airport in time for him to host his grotto at Sanders GardenWorld®.

The original, road-going Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car, which featured in the 1968 film and visited the garden centre in the spring, has been invited back to the Brent Knoll site on Saturday, December 1, 2007.

The ‘Fantasmagorical’ car will help collect Santa from arrivals at the airport after his flight from Lapland touches down in the morning and transport him to GardenWorld® for his first breakfast party and grotto appearance.

Garden centre Managing Director, Peter Burks explained: “This magical car, which has fans from every generation, will be parked up at the garden centre throughout the day for people to see free of charge. There will be an opportunity to chat to the car’s owner Pierre Picton, who worked on the MGM/United Artists Motion Picture.

“We’re also looking for a youngster to help collect Santa and ride in the car. Anyone who is interested in assisting us with this should visit the garden centre and collect an entry form. The closing date for entries is November 1, 2007.”

Chitty was born in June 1967 and was registered with the number plate GEN 11 given to her by Ian Fleming in his book. In the novel, the number plate GEN 11 had significance as it spelt out the Latin word ‘genii’ meaning magical person or being.

Pierre Picton, who will be accompanying the car for the visit to Sanders GardenWorld®, first became involved with Chitty during filming in England in 1967/8. He was responsible for maintaining the car during production and for some ‘double’ driving sequences.

When filming was completed, Pierre then transported and cared for Chitty as she toured the world promoting the film. Some years later, Pierre acquired both GEN11 and the second Chitty built for the film.

Pierre explained: “My car is the only original, road-going Chitty to be featured in the film. It is not an imitation, replica or a kit car, so it really has a special, magical significance and always brings a smile to people’s faces when they see it close up and touch it.”

As well as hosting a grotto, GardenWorld®, which was recently bought by Wyevale Garden Centres and will be one of the chain’s ‘garden centres of excellence’, is also holding Santa’s Breakfast and Tea Parties during the festive period.

To find out more, please go along to Sanders GardenWorld®, which is the industry-voted UK Garden Centre of the Year 2007 and is located just off the M5 at junction 22, call 01278 761111 or visit www.sandersgardenworld.co.uk.

For more information on any PR Stories please email kate@porcupinepr.co.uk