Friday 24 May 2013

A comper goes to Chelsea

About ten years ago, I took a friend to the Chelsea Flower Show using tickets that I had won, and  we enjoyed the day out so much that every year I've tried to win tickets to take her again - but until this year, I'd not been lucky. However my luck changed and this year I won a pair of all-day tickets for the Thursday.

We had a lovely time there, and despite the weather we didn't get wet at all, and I managed to restrain my friend from blowing her life savings on a robotic lawn mower (she now wants me to win her one) but I know you don't want to hear about  the plants and the flowers, do you? You want to hear about the competitions!

One of the first stalls we passed  had a competition to win £100 worth of tools. I immediately started to fill in a form, but my friend said "I haven't brought a pen." I'd been prepared for that - she isn't a comper, after all - and silently handed her my spare one. After that we both scoured the stalls for competitions, but the only other one we could find to be entered there and then was on the Spear & Jackson stall, with a prize of a pair of tickets to Kew Gardens. The leaflet said it could be sent in by post, so I looked around for a handful to grab for my friends,  but they were being closely guarded by the young ladies on the stall who were handing each visitor a clipboard with just ONE form clipped to it.

There were very few competitions there, but I did bring home a (very) few that could be entered online, so here is a round up:

Trailfinders at their brilliant, Best in Show winning,  Australian garden, leaflets were being handed out with an ef for a draw to win a trip to the Australian rainforest. However you can also enter at www.trailfinders.com/chelsea and it closes on June 30th.

The Telegraph  were giving out a leaflet directing you to www.telegraph.co.uk/chelsea where you can win a trip to the Tatton Park Flower Show with three nights in Cheshire. an iPad mini and 5 x £25 iTunes voucher. This closes on June 9th.

Hillier Garden Centres  gave out a free magazine offering a prize of a pair of tickets to the Coronation Festival. Enter at www.hillier.co.uk - they don't give a closing date but say the winner will be chosen on June 10th.

And just to prove that we DID look at  the amazing plants and flowers on display, here is a little montage of some of my photos, put together with a piece of software called CollageIt that I won earlier this week.

7 comments :

  1. Oh Jane that looks a wonderful day out! Thanks for posting up details of other competitions for entering.

    Jacqui x

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  2. Lovely montage of photos :-) Its always looks so nice on the TV, but I've never been there. Thanks for sharing the comps too :-)

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  3. Thanks for the comp.

    I have been lucky enough to win three years visits,did not enter as caring for Granny now, but fond memories and I will be back.

    Funniest buy I ever saw were 12 ladybirds, live in pots for £6.99.Natural greenfly predators yes, but at the time,my garden was teeming with them all for free and even if there were none in your garden, what was to stop them flying off next door?

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  4. Sylvia RobbinsFriday, May 24, 2013

    Thanks for sharing your experience, pics and comps.
    I won tickets to Chelsea last year and they were STOLEN from the envelope.
    It was a real performance as the company had no duplicates.
    WE got in ok in the end and it was a very enjoyable day out. Another winner who also received an empty envelope didn't pursue the matter enough and BOUGHT resale tickets for an exorbitant sum. Could have been her prize tickets.
    Sylvia x

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  5. Hi Jane, thanks for the posting and for being completely unselfish and hunting out competitions for us! Looks like you had a wonderful time and I love the montage too. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

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  6. awwweeee Jane, I worked my comping fingers to the bone to win Chelsea tix, this year and for the last 3... Nothing... maybe 2014...
    Love reading your article- it's the kind of day I would have had- sneaky comping!!!!

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  7. What a wonderful day you had . And what beautiful pictures x

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