Jayne Dowle: Why charity cards epitomise the spirit of Christmas

I'M wondering if there is a secret landfill site somewhere at the North Pole. According to the Greeting Card Association, we Brits are likely to send one billion Christmas cards this December.
Are Christmas cards in decline?Are Christmas cards in decline?
Are Christmas cards in decline?

So far, with just days to go before the 25th, my family of four have received a grand total of 18 missives bearing jolly greetings between us. Have they all been lost in the post and sent to the North Pole instead? My 12-year-old daughter is slightly distraught.

She remembers the days of her early childhood when the hall would be festooned with strings of cards from family, neighbours and friends from near and far. Poor Lizzie is convinced that people have fallen out with us en masse and that our entire social circle is about to dwindle to ourselves and the dog.

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However, I know different. I’ve seen the earnest announcements on my Facebook page from people informing their followers that they will no longer be sending Christmas cards as they are giving the money to charity instead. I realise that what I am about to say may cause upset, but really?

My partner and I bought our general Christmas cards in November from a well-known high street chain. For £3 we chose 42 decent cards, with a proportion of the sale price supporting a national cancer charity. Firstly then, it is possible to buy, write and send Christmas cards and support your chosen charity at the same time.

And secondly, £3? I know every penny counts for voluntary organisations in these hard times, but I find it a bit rich to read a grand declaration of generosity when a whole pile of very acceptable cards can be purchased for less than the price of a takeaway “festive” coffee.

It kind of defeats the object. The pompous announcement of the self-righteous benefactor is deflated entirely because everybody knows that these days cards supporting all manner of good causes can be easily found for not much financial outlay at all. Rather than ultra-generous, the benefactor looks a bit, well, mean.

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And, to be honest, I find this approach rather lacking in imagination. There are all kinds of ways to support charity and not all of them take the form of cash donations. Organisations which work with homeless and vulnerable people for instance, may welcome your spare blankets, duvets, coats and boots.

Foodbanks rely entirely on donations to help families who have nothing in the fridge all year round, not just at Christmas. And countless groups, large and small, just need all hands on deck at busy times.

Ferrying lonely elderly people by car to Christmas events, manning a stall at a fundraiser or fair, taking a turn with cleaning out kennels, mucking out stables or baking mince pies to sell to raise funds. They’re all vital and require just a few hours of input.

If people want to be noble, perhaps they could give up a little bit of their precious time rather than just popping a cheque in the post. That’s the point though, isn’t it? I am sure many individuals who eschew Christmas cards in favour of charitable donations also offer their services regularly to help those less-fortunate than themselves.

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However, I also know that there are others who think that a quick Facebook post is an easy get-out-of-jail card. I know this is true because every year I hear more and more people say that they can’t be bothered with the faff of buying and writing Christmas cards any longer. Say publicly that you’re going to give to charity instead in the hope of not appearing to be disorganised.

I find this attitude even more disheartening than those grandiose public claims to generosity. Call me (and my daughter) old-fashioned, but I think Christmas cards are a tradition we can’t allow to die.

In the mad rush of modern life, sending a card lets people know that they haven’t been forgotten. It keeps friendships and working relationships alive, underlining the emails and texts we run our lives on with a sincere appreciation. And as my daughter points out, when there’s a string of cards hanging in the hall, you can look round and see all the people who mean the most to you and feel you’re part of something nice.

In a poll this week for one of those high street purveyors of festive coffees, “sending Christmas cards” was number two in the nation’s favourite quaint Yuletide customs. It was topped only by “carol singing”. These, along with making your own mince pies, having sprouts and kissing under the mistletoe are already being billed as “things we miss most about Christmas”. How sad.

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If it was up to me, we’d still have mummers going door to door leading a donkey and singing Here We Come A-Wassailing, but I’ll understand that this might not always be advisable, especially with the sales traffic on Boxing Day. However, if a simple card is all it takes to feel connected, I’ll put a pound coin in every tin and send a boxful every year.

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