Graham Greenwell has been an active member of Helensburgh & Gareloch Horticultural Society for many years. She has recently stood down after serving on the Management Committee for 3 years and in addition has been organiser of the Schools Bulbs Competition for several years, Convenor of the annual Plant Sale and the Flower & Vegetable Show. Her knowledge of plants is encyclopaedic, and she is always ready to help and advise others.
In 2020, the Society found it was unable to run both its annual Plant Sale and Bulb Sale due to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. Graham, however, decided that it would be feasible to run these as online events and was prepared to organise them in a way that was safe.
For the Plant Sale in May, an extensive list of plants available was drawn up and circulated to members and orders taken by phone or e-mail. For the Bulb Sale, Graham produced a powerpoint slideshow in full colour detailing all the bulbs available which was e-mailed to members. Once sales were over, members were allocated individual time slots to collect their purchases from a member’s garden and those that were shielding had theirs delivered to their gate.
Organising the events took up a great deal of time, energy and commitment. They are major contributors to the Society’s finances and help to support other events that run at a loss. This year, because they were run online and overheads were lower, the consequent profit was higher.
Graham had a small team of helpers, but the initiative and drive were all hers.
The goodwill that these events generated from members and the community cannot be overstated and was evidenced by the many messages of appreciation that were received.
