June 4, 2020 - Turf Matters

**STRI launches Project Pathfinder: STRI is pleased to announce the launch of ‘Project Pathfinder’ which forms part of the UK Government’s emergency Covid-19 innovation strategy.**

The project will provide sports facilities and green spaces, affected by the COVID-19 crisis, with stage one consultation advice for free between June and August 2020. If required, STRI will also deliver roadmaps to give facilities business plans to assist with their longer-term financial stability.

STRI launches Project Pathfinder

This initiative is available to any sports or green space facility that is currently experiencing issues directly or indirectly due to the COVID-19 crisis. This may involve advice on turfgrass maintenance practices with reduced staff, planning applications, potential cost savings, or longer-term options to put facilities on a stronger financial footing such as redevelopment or land sales.

By funding this project, the government has recognised the huge health and mental wellbeing benefits sports facilities provide to the UK. However, many of these sports facilities are especially vulnerable since the Covid-19 outbreak, which has impacted revenue and long-term business survival. STRI aims to assist as may sports facilities as possible to help them on the road to recovery.

STRI consultant Kelly-Marie Clack, said: “Project Pathfinder will provide a lifeline to sports facilities who are impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our services will fill the gap in knowledge for facility managers who need to rapidly adapt to new financial and practical pressures. This is truly a unique opportunity to reach out and offer advice to all sections of our industry, regardless of budget or location.”

To take part in Project Pathfinder please complete this short and simple survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/stripathfinder

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The Worker Is King: GKB Ecodresser: GKB Machines, the company behind sustainable, reliable and robust maintenance machinery for natural, synthetic and hybrid turf are providing you with the ability to dress natural grass sport pitches in a cost-effective way, thanks to the GKB Ecodresser.

Sports pitches often need increased aeration, especially when wanting to create the best seeding conditions. Combining multiple operations into one, the GKB Ecodresser is the ultimate machine for the maintenance of sport pitches and golf courses. With the combination of cutting discs, coulters and fixed tines, turf is intensively aerated whilst dressing is applied to the upper layer and sub layer.

The Worker Is King: GKB Ecodresser

Developed in the 1990s with the Council of Rotterdam, the GKB Ecodresser also removes the need to purchase and spread dressing. Extracting the desired dressing soil from the existing upper level, the robust machines uses the dressing soil from the sports pitch to bring the overall cost down.

Providing the ability to level imperfections, this impressive machine also carries recycled dressing onto the conveyer belt and scatters it on the desired place. Ultimately, this creates excellent seeding conditions, improves the drainage conditions and enhances rooting. Equipped with a cutting roller, the GKB Ecodresser also ensures minimal operating damage to the turf. These adjustable blade rotors extract soil from the upper layer and the heavy-duty rotor is protective with slipping clutches on each blade flang.

GKB continue to constantly make adjustments to improve the user experience of their reliable machinery, which is why a stone screen and collection tray are made available. The spring-loaded coulters remove the risk of damage from stones when aerating the upper layer and when combined with the stone screen and collection tray a homogenous upper layer is accomplished.

For more on GKB Machines and their reliable and robust range of machinery for natural, hybrid and synthetic turf, please visit www.gkbmachines.com or contact Tom Shinkins on 07495 883617 to enquire about the GKB Ecodresser.