No more Christmas Cards...

I stopped sending Christmas cards (and Jewish New Year and any other kind of “holiday” card) a couple of years ago.  As I know only too well from working for a charity, even cards bought directly from a charity don’t bring in all that much money and the postage is now so high that the cost of the whole exercise has soared.

Charity Christmas card sales continue to decline and any charity would prefer a straight cash donation for the value of the cards and the postage instead! Writing notes in cards is a useful way to say “hi” to someone you haven’t seen for a while – but you could just call or even email .....

I have my regular charities that I support over the year, including the charitable fund of the Needlemakers Company and for the past few months I have been supporting the Finchley Food Bank at St Mary’s Church.  From time to time they publish a list of what they need and besides food that can be prepared without cooking – ie tinned, they also always ask for things like shampoo, deodorant, washing powder etc.  I add a few things to my supermarket shop, especially if they are on three for two special offers and drop them in.

This year the money I save by not buying and sending cards will add to that and provide some mince pies and nice biscuits as well. There are food banks everywhere so please don’t send me a card – just add a few things to your shopping basket and drop them in.