Page 57 - ALG Issue 4 2019
P. 57

      HELP DESK
This year the show reception and help desk were situated in the main entrance foyer of the MAC along with the National Allotment Society, who over the three days had a steady stream of enquiries to deal with. Mick and Mark were running the reception and help desk and reported that this year they have had many more enquiries as to where and how they can get an allotment, or how they can exhibit or be involved in the show itself. We recorded everything in a logbook so we can follow up enquiries after the show. We also made sure that we had a sufficient supply of information for visitors to take away – that was a lesson learnt from last year.
The main function of the reception/help desk was to allow children to come into contact with real vegetables to handle them and ask any questions they like. To this end they were given characters with faces and expressions. Once the children were engaged, they were given a short quiz – all the answers were
in the show arena and it was a great way to talk to parents. There were many selfies taken with vegetables
and scarecrows. After completing the quiz there was the opportunity to visit the activity area and learn how to sow seeds and create a ‘Mr Grasshead’ with Barbara and her team.
ACTIVITY AREA
An improvement on last year was the arrangement of the display tables of unusual vegetables in the MAC Foyer. The Unusual Veg display drew an adult audience and gave the opportunity for the team to have conversations about allotment growing and encourage a visit to the Show Hall. Many people enjoyed talking about their experiences with growing. The new ‘Grasshead’ children’s activity was popular and well resourced. The recyclable cups with tops were well received by parents. The face feature stickers were used to good effect on the display veg that once again were a draw for children. I would like
to specially thank the following people who volunteered their time: Penny Moore from Coney Green Allotments
Once the children were engaged, they were given a short quiz
and Linda Coates from Clunbury
Road who designed and resourced
the activity. Also, Saiqa Sultan and her family, Imaan Ahmed and Eisa Ahmed, together with John and Jo Spencer, Cheryl Butler and her family all of whom were brilliant at engaging with the public, especially with families, making for an entertaining space in the terrace foyer; The Tuff Spot Tray on a stand, donated by the MAC, was ideal for the children to do their planting in. However, it will be placed in a more prominent position at future events. There were also more MAC notices directing visitors towards the show and the Red Foam hands made it easier to direct the public towards the Show Hall.
Barbara Smith
          Allotment and Leisure Gardener 57





















































































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