Stationers’ Company event reviews importance of hand-writing
As part of the GCA’s role of protecting and promoting the joy of greeting cards, GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson was invited to speak at Stationers’ Hall on 23rd October 2023 – as part of a panel considering the place for hand-writing in a digital age.
The event had been organised by Chris Leonard-Morgan, Liveryman and Sector Champion at The Stationers’ Company. The panel discussion was chaired by Stationer’ Helen Esmonde and joining Amanda on the panel were Dr Mellissa Prunty, Chair of the National Handwriting Association and Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at Brunel University, and Graham Craik, Sales Director of Pentel and Chair of the Writing Instruments Association.
The evening event was attending by several from the greeting card industry, including several buyers and Max Publishing’s Jakki Brown and Warren Lomax. In addition to the 100 plus people attending in person many more watched the discussion from across the world via a live video link.
Is there a place for Handwriting in a Digital Age
Mellissa Prunty spoke about the mechanics of learning to write, and the differences in children’s learning and the improved retention of information when written. She spoke about there being a place for both in schools.
Graham spoke about the different uses of pens and pencils in society sharing some interesting statistics about the numbers of pens purchased each year – over a billion in the UK alone.
Amanda spoke about personal nature of hand writing, and the powerful immediate and intimate connection we feel to our loved one when we see their handwriting on a letter, card or an envelope on the doormat. She spoke about the joy of hand-written greeting cards, reminding everyone of importance of cards as a way of communicating historically, and leading to updates on the vibrant card market of 2023.
Amanda went on to speak about some of the work the GCA does to protect and promote card sending, speaking about the Thinking of You Week schools project, where the GCA connected 5,000 school children in the UK and Ghana through cards. Also reflecting on the importance of the UK postal service, highlighting that for 75p (the price of a 2nd class stamp) we can sent a card anywhere in the UK.
The GCA’s #Cardmitment campaign was also discussed, with Amanda asking everyone to join the greeting card industry in writing their Christmas cards early – ready to post on 1st December to start a wave of card sending. See PGBuzz for further details on the evening.
A card is a small hand-written act of kindness. It creates a strong emotional connection between the person that has written it and the person that receives it.
There is simply nothing like seeing a hand-written envelope on the doormat with a message from someone who’s thinking of you.
So yes I believe there is a very important place for hand-writing in a digital age!
Amanda Fergusson GCA CEO
Further Information
For more information on The Stationers’ Company visit Stationers’ website.
For more information on our #Cardmitment campaign see #Cardmitment and #Cardmitment latest information To download and use our free #Cardmitment Toolkit click here.
Click this link for latest Media Coverage of #Cardmitment – scroll down and press the button at the bottom of the blog to see it all!
Stationers’ webinar, when GCA joined to discuss Victorian Cards, Crackers and Christmas Themes
