Forest Accessible Gardening still making gardening better one year on

Since its launch in 2012, Forest?s Accessible Gardening range has carved out a niche product proposition by offering a selection of practical timber products designed to make gardening easier and more enjoyable for anyone who needs to sit, kneel or stand to garden.

Forest?s current Accessible Gardening range includes 18 products, including best-sellers such as the Trough & Cold Frame Planter, and Kitchen Garden Trough.? New for the 2014 season will be the Accessible Gardening Cold Frame and Garden Chest.? The design of both classic products has been especially updated for the accessible market, including gas powered, hydraulic arms.? Larger, easy-grip rounded handles have also been added for easier lifting.

Talking about these new introductions, Forest?s sales and marketing director, John Gomersall, said: ?The response to our Accessible Gardening range has been beyond our expectation.? The aim of Accessible Gardening has always been to make gardening more enjoyable for all, no matter what physical limitations they might have.? By developing a range that is both concise and clearly displayed we believe we?ve made it even easier for consumers to select the products that will best suit their needs on a number of levels, including physical limitations, space availability, budgets and even gardening experience and skill.? Over the coming year we will be looking at even more ways to develop the range, ensuring it continues to benefit both retailers and their customers alike.?

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It is not, however, just consumers who have been benefitting from Forest?s Accessible Gardening collection.? The company?s partner charity, Thrive, with whom Forest has been working closely to develop the range, has also reaped the rewards that come from the ever increasing popularity of the collection.? Since the launch Thrive has been receiving a donation from the sale of each product, with the current funds raised exceeding ?12,000.? This money has already gone a long way in helping the charity to continue its work in bringing about profound transformations in the lives of disabled people.

Kathryn Rossiter, Thrive?s Chief Executive Officer, said: ?We are delighted at how our partnership with Forest has flourished over the past year.

?And we are pleased that the expertise we provided when Forest developed some of the products that formed part of the Accessible Gardening Range has resulted in such good sales.? It means that the 2.5% donation from every sale in the range has raised this significant amount which will go towards helping more disabled people at our garden projects in Berkshire and London.

?Corporate relationships such as ours with Forest Garden can prove invaluable to charities like Thrive as we continue to look for imaginative ways to raise funds in a challenging financial climate. We are grateful to Forest Garden for all their support and look forward to working with them in 2014.?

John Gomersall concluded: ?The relationship we have with Thrive has been pivotal to the development and success of the range.? Their ongoing feedback and advice from members and through testing days has helped us to create products that genuinely meet the needs of those gardeners with physical limitations.? We are also incredibly pleased to know that our financial contribution will go a long way in helping Thrive to continue their vital work.?

Find out more

Forest is the UK?s largest manufacturer and distributor of garden timber products, with products available at more than 1,000 retailers up and down the country.? For further information call 0844 248 9801 or email info@forestgarden.co.uk.

To find out more about Thrive and the work that the charity does with people living with a disability or mental ill health, please log onto www.thrive.org.uk