We are only human - Issue 118 - Editor's Foreword

I’m sure you were all hoping for better weather in 2025! However, many areas of the UK started with severe flooding and snow.

Whilst the Met Office claim that 2024 was provisionally the fourth warmest year on record, in a series from 1884, rainfall saw exceptionally high figures. In his regular column, Mark Hunt reflects on 2024 and highlights that September’s rainfall hit 205mm, compared to a 55mm average between 1991 and 2020. This is nothing short of astonishing and we can only pray that 2025 brings a much drier climate, but I’m not hopeful. View the full stats and comparisons for last year on page 32.

I’m sure many of you made new year’s resolutions at the turn of the year and it would be hard not to make predictions for technology and advancements in the industry for 2025. Robotic mowers are sure to make a huge impact and our cover article showcases the compelling alternatives in turfcare maintenance. We investigate further from page 8.

Training and education will be another factor that many of you will explore this year and, with a general lack of awareness about opportunities in turfcare and career progression, I recently attended a Sports Turf & Greenkeeping Educationalists Summit at Leicester City Sports Turf Academy. I report on what is being done on page 34.

The BIGGA Continue to Learn programme at BTME in Harrogate is set to be the biggest one yet and myself and James look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones - probably over a drink or two... or three.

Many of you will have received our free 2025 wallplanner distributed with the last issue, and the eagle-eyed amongst you have noticed that weekends are slightly awry for January and February. We offer our sincere apologies for these errors and hope it doesn’t cause too many issues for your teams.

We are a very small team and sometimes mistakes do happen (regardless of how many people proof something)! We all beat ourselves up about errors because we strive to do a good job, but we are only human - we’re supposed to make mistakes - according to Billy Joel anyway!

On that note, be kind to yourself and others in 2025.

Kerry
t: 07973 394037
e: kerry.haywood@pitchcare.com