Thinking of You Week is doing what it set out to do ‘to create a wave of love and happiness’ by the sending of greeting cards.
As featured in Tuesday’s PG Buzz, the GCA initiative got off to a great start and the momentum has continued with more activities happening by the day.
Millions of pieces of mail have been arriving from Royal Mail featuring a Thinking of You Week stamp cancellation message as well as the industry hashtag #sendacarddeliverasmile.
Manchester based publisher, Wraptious has donated packs of cards to Levenshulme Good Neighbours, a befriending charity that supports older people who find themselves isolated or lonely.
“The cards are being used to send older people who are in hospital, who are feeling unwell, or who are perhaps just in need of a friendly word or two to brighten their day.” said Simon Wadsworth, the company’s founder. “We have also given some cards to the older people themselves, so that they can send messages to friends and family and continue sharing the love! It’s a great charity that makes a big difference in our community.”
Social media has been all of a Twitter with many independent retailers putting their weight behind the campaign to spread awareness of the week.
Putting its own spin on it, Abacus Cards took to Facebook to inspire others to send cards by featuring several of their team and the cards they have sent as well as the reasons behind the sends.
Meanwhle online print on demand operators Thortful sent out a designated emailer about the Week while Moonpig added ‘Thinking of You’ as a searchable field on its brand new site.
The crafting scene has really got behind ToYW this year with numerous magazines featuring articles, competitions and promotions during the Week.
The GCA’s ceo Sharon Little, who has been on several radio programmes to promote the Week, was involved in a great card writing event in Offside Books, in Kilburn as well as setting up a Thinking of You Week display in the newly opened Museum of Happiness in Camden.
“It has just been incredible, every day there is more and more activity, with publishers, suppliers, retailers, schools, media and other bodies all recognising how much joy you can bring by the simple act of sending cards – and with a few days still to go of the official Week there is still time for others to join in the fun!” said Sharon.
Sarah Hamilton, the founder of the Just a Card campaign (a keynote speaker at the GCA AGM next month) has instigated a parallel event – Just A Card Day – which takes place today (Thursday 28 September), purposefully during Thinking of You Week.
The activity looks to celebrate the rich and diverse creative community by posting images on Instagram and across social media today encouraging creative to share their stories and spread the word about supporting independent retailers and makers.
