There’s good news for gift shops selling greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association’s (GCA) #Cardmitment campaign to promote Christmas card sending is being embraced by retailers, publishers, celebrities and MPs – with a special event for MPs, organised by the GCA, taking place in Parliament’s Portcullis House in seven days time on November 29.
The event will highlight the importance of the greetings card industry, the sending of Christmas cards, and safeguarding the Royal Mail’s six-day-a-week delivery service, while asking the MPs to sign the #Cardmitment Pledge:
- Agreeing to lead the way by sending Christmas cards this year.
- Visiting an independent card retailer, publisher, and/or designer in their constituency to remind the public it still only costs 75p to send a card by post.
- Supporting the GCA’s Caring At Christmas campaign, where members are visiting care homes around the country to help residents write and send cards.
- Helping to ensure that the second-class postal rate stays pegged to inflation.
- Offering support to local posties and safeguarding the Universal Service Obligation, including the six-day-a-week delivery.
The plan is for these pledges will be presented on a giant card, currently in design by Sarah Jackson, owner of Stormy Knight and a GCA council member, that will be printed by The Sherwood Group ready for MPs to sign on 29 November.
“We at have written personally to all 650 MPs, inviting them to the drop-in session,” confirms the GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson. “However, to add further weight and engagement, we do need retailers, card publishers and suppliers to write to their own MPs to urge them to join in.”
Making it super easy, a draft letter is available to download on the GCA website, which can then be personalised and sent to the local representative – with separate letters to home and work if they’re in different constituencies. To find out who your local MP is, and their contact details, click here.
The #Cardmitment campaign has been further boosted by comedian Pippa Evans who kindly re-recorded the brilliant ditty she wrote celebrating the delights of Christmas cards that debuted when she hosted last month’s Henries awards ceremony, organised annually by Progressive Greetings magazine. The song is free to use, with industry folk encouraged to share Pippa’s song on their social media. Click here link.
Current social media activity includes a #CardmitmentCampaign Instagram page and #Cardmitment hashtag, while the Xmas Cardies group of 20-plus like-minded independent greeting card retailers are continuing to ignite their customers’ passion for sending Christmas cards with weekly posts.
