Post Pals

Yesterday, the lovely Carrie Fletcher tweeted about Post Pals... isn't it just the best feeling when two of your favourite things unexpectedly collide?

Now I know many of you have heard me chat incessantly about this wonderful charity, but it seems that a few have somehow managed to escape these natterings! I'm taking that as the perfect excuse for a new blog post, as I love telling people about Post Pals and spreading the word!

Post Pals is a charity which allows people to send happy, cheerful post to children with serious illnesses to make them smile! On their website, www.postpals.co.uk, each child (AKA Pal!) has their very own page with lots of information about them - their interests, condition and updates on how they've been doing. The great thing about Post Pals is that siblings don't get left out. It's hard being a child with serious illness, but it's also very hard having a brother or sister who is so poorly. You will be able to read about siblings and send them post too.

It really is very simple - just visit the website and click on 'Find Pals'. You'll see a list of all the kids Post Pals are supporting. Just choose one of the Pals, read through their page, then use the postal or email address on their page to send them a message that will make them SMILE! :D You would not believe how a simple postcard saying "Just dropping by to say hello!" can absolutely make a child's day!

So that's it!! You have the power to make a big difference to a poorly child's day! And I really do mean YOU! Absolutely anyone can volunteer - the Pals love to hear from other kids, other countries, older people, even animals! I started volunteering when I was 14, and sometimes my kitty Maisy and doggy Badger like to 'write' too!! You may spot our names on Pals' pages... my little friend Ruby likes to call me 'EmmaBadgerMaisy'!!

At this point, people often tell me "I'd love to volunteer, but I wouldn't know what to write!" Never fear - wonderful Viks who founded Post Pals (and herself suffers from severe ME) has written a fantastic guide to help you out!

Post Pals also have several projects running if you'd like to give an extra helping hand, I won't go into great detail about these, but if you're interested just pop me a message and I can let you know who to contact!

•  Fortnightly Writers Scheme - volunteers are assigned a Pal or sibling to write to on a fortnightly basis.

 

• Monthly Projects - every month, a theme is set (such as books, space, nature or underwater) and volunteers can be assigned a Pal or sibling to send a small gift related to this theme.

 

• Pillowcase Project - this is the project I run, we design, print and send personalised pillowcases for Pals and siblings thanks to kind donations. We also sell personalised pillowcases, cushions and images, with 100% of profits going to Post Pals. (£941.08 raised so far! Temporarily on hold whilst I'm at uni, but watch this space! The new payment page is here.)

 

• Dottie the Dalmatian - read about her here and here!

 

• Elf Project - this is a Christmas project, for December of the Monthly Project Scheme where volunteers (AKA Elves!!) are assigned a child to send little Christmas gifts to, with a specified total price.

 

• Reindeer Project - another Christmas project, volunteers are assigned a child and asked to write 12 letters over the Christmas period, from each of Father Christmas' reindeers!

I will leave you with this brilliant video about Post Pals from 2009, which was also featured on Russell Howard's Good News!

 

 

Be sure to friend Post Pals on Facebook - this is the best place to keep updated, and to meet other volunteers and Post Pal parents, it's a lovely community. If you have any questions about Post Pals, I'd absolutely love to answer them for you, and if I'm unable to help I can point you in the right direction :)

Thanks so much for reading!

Emma Kate
xx