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Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA

November 18, 2020/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by CharmianRobson

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA: Campey Turf Care Systems and the Staffordshire Football Association have announced a formal partnership with the aim of improving the quality of grassroots pitches in the county. Over the years as individual entities, both Campey and Staffordshire FA have championed the importance of quality pitches in grassroots football with […]

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback

November 17, 2020/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) has revealed its feedback from both the recent visitor and exhibitor surveys that influenced the decision to move SALTEX to November 2021. Last month the GMA issued two surveys; one to every exhibitor that had signed-up to the 2020 event and one to every visitor […]

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA

November 18, 2020/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by CharmianRobson

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback

November 17, 2020/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA

November 18, 2020/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by CharmianRobson

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA: Campey Turf Care Systems and the Staffordshire Football Association have announced a formal partnership with the aim of improving the quality of grassroots pitches in the county.

Over the years as individual entities, both Campey and Staffordshire FA have championed the importance of quality pitches in grassroots football with a focus on increased participation in the game. Nationally, the Football Association aims to improve 20,000 grass pitches across England in the next decade, and whilst at the early stages of that journey, Staffordshire FA Partnerships and Communications Officer, Gareth Thomas, is confident the county can play their part with the help of Campey.

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA

“Since 2012 we’ve been working on various initiatives to raise the standards of grassroots football pitches in our county, and at the beginning of that process our local pitch advisor, Stoke City FC Grounds Manager, Andy Jackson, recommended Campey. We were also aware of Campey from the branding on many of the machines we saw during those early visits, along with the positive feedback we received from clubs,” Gareth explains.

“We’ve had an informal relationship with Campey going back eight years, and we wanted to formalise that to continue to help more clubs across Staffordshire. With the support of Campey, we can keep developing our programme to make as big an impact as possible.”

“One of the reasons our clubs provide positive feedback on Campey is the training that they receive when they invest in machinery, along with the ongoing aftercare. If a new club volunteer comes on board, someone from Campey is at the end of a telephone to talk them through it and if required visit the site.”

“We’ve seen the benefit of that service already at local grassroots football facility sites such as Trubshaw Cross who took on a ten-pitch site from their local council in 2015 and have transformed the pitches with the help of advice and guidance from Campey.”

“They are just one example; we’ve got some excellent case studies across Staffordshire where our programme has been really beneficial to grassroots football. Having worked at the County FA for several years now, I think our grass pitch improvement programme has been one of our most positive and impactful programmes.”

Despite the difficult situation facing grassroots football clubs since Covid-19 disrupted the sport in March 2020, many clubs have used it as an opportunity to improve their pitches via the programme and funding support from the Football Foundation.

Ensuring that clubs invest in the right machinery that will be a real asset to them is a key part of the programme and one that Campey – who have run numerous grassroots education days across England over the last ten years – are pleased to help with.

“These grants provide a real opportunity unlike anything they’ve ever had before for grassroots club to acquire machinery and improve their pitches and receive first rate training,” Campey Director, John Campey, explains.

“We’ve worked with grassroots football clubs for a long time, so it’s nice to be recognised and have the affiliation with Staffordshire FA. It puts us in a good position to help the groundsmen and get the machines out there and have people looking at the kit that will do the best for them.”

“I think it’s important to use the right machinery and for them to see it in action and get involved with it that way. With grant support, clubs can access current machinery that’s easier to use and that encourages volunteers and ultimately improves their pitches.”

This partnership will see Campey support grassroots clubs on-site with training and machinery advice as well as contributions to the Staffordshire FA communication channels which will contain ongoing pitch maintenance advice throughout the season.

In the future, Campey aims to develop partnerships with more county football associations to strengthen their support of grassroots clubs in England.

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SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback

November 17, 2020/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) has revealed its feedback from both the recent visitor and exhibitor surveys that influenced the decision to move SALTEX to November 2021.

Last month the GMA issued two surveys; one to every exhibitor that had signed-up to the 2020 event and one to every visitor – past and present. The aim was to gather industry feedback which could help plan for and shape the future of SALTEX.

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback

When asked which type of show visitors would like to attend, respondents confirmed that, despite the rise in virtual events, nothing can quite replace human interaction as an indoor show proved to be the most popular choice for both 2021 and 2022.

Preferences for 2021

Indoor show – 86%
Outdoor show – 27%
Virtual show -18%

Preferences for 2022

Indoor – 91%
Outdoor – 33%
Virtual – 9%

A key question in the survey asked the best time of year to attend a trade show; November was the first option – followed by October.

November – 47%
October – 32%
February – 30%
September – 25%

Despite the pandemic it is clear that there remains an appetite for trade shows. Respondents were asked how confident they were on a scale of 0-10 (0 not likely at all, 10 extremely likely) in attending trade shows in the future. An overwhelming 73% voted 7 or above.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Geoff Webb, CEO of the GMA said: “Crucially, we wanted to listen to the industry and give them an opportunity to shape a show that is totally about them, and their needs. It also hugely supported our motivation to reschedule.

“We felt really encouraged by the research which pointed to a continuing demand for an indoor trade exhibition and it was also promising to see November as the preferred date.

There was a reason that we went from an outdoor Summer show to an indoor show, and I think these survey results underline the fact that SALTEX, in its current format, works for the sector.”

In addition to a core audience of regular visitors, SALTEX continues to attract new first-time visitors. An encouraging 34% visited SALTEX for the first time in 2019 compared to 28% in 2018, 27% in 2017, 26% in 2016 and 23% in 2015.

SALTEX is appealing more to the younger generation in the industry too, which is further supported by the GMA’s wider range of activities. There was an increase of 6% in visitors aged between 16-30 at SALTEX 2019.

Other notable increases have seen a rise in landscapers, local authorities and those working in junior, assistant and deputy positions.

For more information visit www.gmasaltex.co.uk

Follow SALTEX on Twitter @GMA_SALTEX and Facebook – www.facebook.com/GMASALTEX

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA

Campey announce partnership with Staffordshire FA: Campey Turf Care Systems and the Staffordshire Football Association have announced a formal partnership with the aim of improving the quality of grassroots pitches in the county.

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback

SALTEX surveys offer encouraging feedback: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) has revealed its feedback from both the recent visitor and exhibitor surveys that influenced the decision to move SALTEX to November 2021.

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