Notcutts, Solihull What's On May 2008 - June 2008   For a full programme of events throughout the year pick up a What"s On leaflet from the garden centre now. 2008 Charity We are delighted to announce that Guide Dogs for the Blind is our company charity for 2008, look out for fund-raising events at the centre throughout the year. PDSA PetCheck Visit – Saturday 24th May – 10am to 5.30pm The PDSA PetCheck vehicle will be at Notcutts offering free health checks to dogs, plus advice on the care of other popular household pets, such as cats, rabbits, and other companion animals Wildlife Event – Sat 31st May & Sun 1st June – 10.30am to 4.30pm Celebrate with Notcutts the wonderful wildlife that can be found in the English countryside and our gardens. Kate will be visiting the garden centre with her Mini Monsters Creepy Crawly Road Show and Mr and Mrs Jan Prymaka will fascinate you with facts about their fabulous birds of prey. Look Out for Wildlife Calling all children – enter Notcutts Wildlife competition for your chance to win a Bird Box Camera for your school and £50 in wildlife products for you. All you have to do is to paint or draw pictures of wildlife and bring them into the garden centre to be displayed. The winner will be announced at the end of May.   Wildflower Meadow – Dates subject to flowering – see in store for details, 11.00am – 4.00pm Some of nature’s rare plant delights will be available to see for just two weekends this year in a protected meadow at the garden centre. In conjunction with the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.

News May 2008 - June 2008   BEETROOT JUICE SALES SOAR Sales of beetroot juice, both in the restaurant and shop, are soaring at Notcutts since the media reported that drinking 500ml of beetroot juice a day can significantly reduce blood pressure. “We realised that we were constantly replenishing stocks of James White Beetroot Juice,” says Julian Ranson, garden centre manager. “James White juices always sell well but we were surprised that we were ordering far more of the beetroot variety and the reason is that people have discovered that it helps to cut blood pressure. “The key beneficial ingredient appears to be nitrate, which is also found in green, leafy vegetables,” continues Julian. “We are finding that more and more customers want to grow their own vegetables, whether it be in containers, their gardens or on allotments, that we have significantly increased our kitchen garden range to meet that demand. Some people don’t like germinating their own seeds, some people want just a few plants and others lose seedlings to the elements or pests and so they come into the garden centre to buy established plants in the kitchen garden range. Coupled with the huge range of seeds we stock, there is something for the novice to the most experienced vegetable grower.” “Beetroot is so easy to grow and now is the time to plant it. There are so many delicious recipes you can create using beetroot, but if you don’t want to grow them yourselves then the garden centre has beetroot juice,” says Julian. Researchers discovered that in healthy volunteers blood pressure was reduced within an hour of drinking the juice. The study, by Barts and The London School of Medicine and the Peninsula Medical School, could suggest a low-cost way to treat hypertension. Previously, the protective effects of vegetable-rich diets have been attributed to their antioxidant vitamin content. Professor Amrita Ahluwalia of Barts and The London School of Medicine says, “Drinking beetroot juice, or consuming other nitrate-rich vegetables, might be a simple way to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system.” (source BBC news website). Image by Mike Hammett WATCH THE BIRDIE – WIN A CAMERA For a chance to win a Bird Box Camera for their school and £50 worth of wildlife products for themselves, children can enter Notcutts ‘Look Out for Wildlife’ competition. All children have to do is to paint or draw pictures of wildlife and bring them into the garden centre to be displayed. The winner will be announced at the end of May and children can visit the garden centre in half term to see the pictures entered into the competition. On Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June, from 10.30am to 4.30pm, the garden centre is organising a free wildlife day when Kate and her Mini Monsters Road Show (Sunday only) and Jan with is fantastic birds of prey will be in the garden centre (both days), along with other wildlife organisations The Guide Dogs for The Blind Association will also be visiting the garden centre. There will be lots of free to enter competitions with some great prizes to be won including an exclusive family outing to the Guide Dogs breeding establishment. As The Guide Dogs for The Blind Association is Notcutts chosen charity this year there will be a special wildlife treasure hunt map at £1 a go (proceeds to Guide Dogs) with the prize being the exclusive family visit. “As our customers, and particularly children, are very interested in wildlife we often organise wildlife days in school holidays,” says garden centre manager, Julian Ranson. “There was so much interest in the bird box cameras last year, with some of the garden centres actually having nests in their boxes, that we thought it would make an excellent prize for schools. The bird box camera is just one of 460 wildlife products we stock, so there’s something for everyone.” A GREAT DAY FOR THE DOGS A Solihull garden centre has proved that chocolate can be good for dogs! A staggering £2,430 was raised for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association during the chocolate festival held at Notcutts recently. It means that the Notcutts store has now raised £4,500 for the charity since it started fund raising for them in February this year. Held over the weekend 15/16 March, the chocolate festival attracted thousands of visitors to the garden centre. One young visitor, Lucy Williams (age 9) from Tixall Road, Hall Green simply couldn’t resist the double temptation of chocolate and meeting the guide dogs. Lucy is visually impaired and wants to have her own guide dog one day. She thoroughly enjoyed meeting the dogs and was led round an obstacle course by one of them. “We all know that you shouldn’t feed chocolate to dogs, but our event showed just how you can combine the two successfully,” said garden centre manager Julian Ranson. “Despite the weather, visitors poured in to the garden centre, some coming both days!” The chocolate delights on offer included a chocolate fountain and tram, chocolate tombola, Bendicks, the Chocolate Alchemist, a chocolate tree, chocolate mannequins and entertainers and competitions to win chocolate treats, such as a family ticket to Cadbury World and a chest full of chocolate coins. The restaurant had chocolate recipes on offer too. NOTCUTTS CHOOSE GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND AS THEIR 2008 CHARITY Notcutts Solihull has chosen Guide Dogs for The Blind Association as their 2008 charity. Guide Dogs will benefit from all fundraising at the Solihull garden centre. February half term, Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th from 10.30am to 4.30pm, will see the official launch of the fundraising with Guide Dog puppies, their handlers and GDBA volunteers in the garden centre talking to customers about the organisation and its work. Martin Rapley the Bugman will also be bringing his fascinating bugs to the garden centre and Jan will be there with his fabulous birds of prey. Plus there will be a wood turners and the RSPB. “Guide Dogs have worked with Notcutts in helping to build up some very successful All About Dogs Days at other Notcutts garden centres,” says garden centre manager Julian Ranson. “The organisation was so professional and supportive at these events that we all voted to work with them in 2008 and extend our support to fundraising across the group. “During the year the money from our wishing well and fundraising within the garden centre will all be for the benefit of Guide Dogs,” continues Julian. “This activity will all be complemented with regular visits by Guide Dogs volunteers and their puppies and dogs. We have always found that such visits are a hit with customers who have a warm spot for the adorable dogs.”

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