Greentings’ reusable designs teach Pen Pals 4 Pupils about writing and sustainability
Youngsters are getting lessons in writing greeting cards and sustainability thanks to Greentings’ link up with Maped Helix’s Pen Pals 4 Pupils initiative.
Founder Kerry Linacre has made sure packs of her reusable cards, tied up with biodegradable twine, have been winging their way to the two schools Greentings has been paired with, Milby Primary in Nuneaton and Bolton’s St Stephen & All Martys.
“We’re super excited to be collaborating with Maped Helix on the Pen Pals 4 Pupils campaign,” Kerry told PG Buzz, “we’re sending cards to a whole year group at a primary school in Warwickshire and a class in a Bolton school, which we picked at random as they’d signed up from different parts of the country.
“Our reusable cards are perfect for pen-palling as they come with three removable inserts and envelopes for at least three uses – and we’re going to be launching a pen pal range in the next few months.”
Part of its sustainable offer, the Greentings cards are made entirely from post-consumer waste and each has a unique serial number printed inside so the youngsters will be able to see where in the world their card ends up.
Maped Helix launched the free project to kick off National Stationery Week in May, and it’s running for the whole of the next academic year to link youngsters in Years 3 to 5 with their peers in other parts of the country, offering them a safe way to swap handwritten letters and build lifelong friendships.
And the stationery specialist asked greetings publishers to help by providing a few notecards and birthday cards suitable for children aged seven to 10, to be distributed to the schools.
NSW coordinator and indie retailer Sarah Laker, who owns Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow, explained: “It will help children’s social, communication and handwriting skills and also let them experience the joy of both sending and receiving letters and cards – the true spirit of National Stationery Week.
“As it’s going on throughout the year, the children should get to know each other quite well so will be celebrating birthdays, and it’s great that Greentings and others in the card industry are helping by providing a few spare cards.”
Any other publishers with spare birthday cards and notecards can email marketing@mapedhelix.co.uk to make arrangements to get the cards distributed to the schools around the country which have signed up for the Pen Pals 4 Pupils project.