Indie wholesaler launches Christmas box campaign for children’s hospice charity
Greeting card wholesaler, Archway Cards is determined to make a difference with its business so has launched pre-orders for its Christmas boxes raising money for East Anglian Children’s Hospices (EACH)
One of the UK’s few remaining independent greeting card wholesalers, the Norwich-based family-run business is giving 50% of the profits from every box sale to the charity, which has the Princess Of Wales as patron.
“We really wanted to make a difference,” Archway’s technical director Dan Beeby told PG Buzz, “and our aim is to obviously sell as many as we can to raise funds for EACH directly.
“We have previously benefited from Each’s amazing services during a difficult time for our family, when nine-year-old Fraser Delf, who suffered from the rare Coats Plus Syndrome, received end-of-life care there in 2020. They provided exceptional services and care for Fraser and support for his brother Stuie, parents Carla and Stuart, and grandparents at the Milton Hospice in Cambridgeshire.”
The Christmas boxes come as a display unit of 15 designs with six boxes of each design, 10 cards in each box, at a trade cost of £2.40 a box, and pre-orders can be made now with the units available from September.
Dan runs the business, one of the six finalists in The Retas Awards 2024 Best Greeting Card Wholesaler category, with his operations director wife Amy and md Chris Dyball, who set up the company 40 years ago, and they had a rebrand to celebrate the anniversary back in September along with an upgrade of the website and online side which was one of the first in the sector when it was 13 years previously.
And the family focus made EACH a great partnership, as the charity looks after everyone involved in end-of-life care, including siblings, parents and grandparents, at its three hospices which each cost £9,500 per day to run.
Dan added that Archway had worked with EACH to produce the Christmas boxes, and had been to visit The Nook, which is the newest and largest hospice with seven bedrooms for youngsters who need to stay as well as overnight accommodation for families, a sensory room, hydrotherapy pool, music studio, haven, play areas, teenage room, dedicated therapy rooms and areas for family support groups, counselling and activities plus large outside space.
“Having seen the impact that they make, we felt compelled to try and support them,” Dan explained.