Christmas might feel like a distant memory already, but for one Leicestershire boy his Christmas wish is set to continue long into the new year thanks to Briers, a leading gardening lifestyle brand from Somerset.
Ten-year-old Aidan Parmar had entered a glove design competition during the summer of 2016. Sadly, the original manufacturer was unable to fulfil the prize, leaving one very sad and disappointed boy. Hearing of Aidan’s plight via a heartfelt plea by Aidan’s father on LinkedIn, the team at award-winning garden glove and accessory manufacturer, Briers, were only too happy to step up and help this talented youngster see his design dreams come true.
In late December Aidan, along with his extended family, were invited to join the Briers team at its headquarters in Wincanton. The adventure started with the whole family enjoying an overnight stay in Bath before arriving onsite the next day to a hero’s welcome. A personalised parking space, featuring characters from his favourite movies and cartoons welcomed the young designer, who was also presented with a goodie bag of pens, crayons, and pencils, and a glove template to begin working on.
Throughout the day, Aidan was joined by Briers’ very own in-house designer, Lewis Simper, who helped to finesse the overall design, as well as working with Aidan to create some collaborative ideas and design. Inspired by nature and his surroundings, Aidan’s final design will be featured on a special range of children’s gloves which will help to raise funds for the children’s hospice garden charity, Greenfingers.
Lewis found he had no trouble in getting his young protégé started. He said: “Aidan is a surprisingly talented young designer – he quickly sketched out a fantastic gnome scene in double quick time! The whole Briers team could not have been more impressed by his creative skills.”
Jackie Eades, founder and managing director at Briers, added: “I am so pleased that we have been able to help Aidan see his design become a reality despite his earlier disappointment. Supporting young designers is something we feel passionately about, and I have no doubt Aidan could have a bright future ahead of him – we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on him! His passion for design and endless enthusiasm has been an absolute joy to witness, and I am over the moon to say that his gloves will be on the retailers’ shelves as early as April 2017.”
Nilesh Parmar, Aidan’s father, added: “At first I was a bit worried we would not find a solution to help my son after his prize did not come through from another glove and footwear brand. So when I saw Aidan sit down with the team from Briers I felt proud but also relieved that we could finally come to a happy conclusion!”
Find out more
If you would like to find out more about Briers’ trend-led product ranges, telephone 01963 269 077, or email hello@briersltd.co.uk
Briers Ltd is the UK market leading manufacturer of garden gloves, footwear, kids gardening, garden gifting, indoor and outdoor clocks, plus branded ranges. Launched in 1999 with only four pairs of gloves, selling to local garden centres, they now supply numerous gardening and lifestyle retailers with thousands of different SKUs.
Greenfingers is a registered UK charity dedicated to supporting the children who use hospices around the UK, along with their families, by creating beautiful, well-designed outdoor spaces for children to enjoy with family, friends and siblings, whether through play and fun, or therapeutic rest and relaxation. To date Greenfingers Charity has created 51 inspiring gardens and outdoor spaces in hospices around the country, and has a further waiting list of hospices that need its help.