The GCA are delighted to sponsor this new award, launched 2021. The Henries Awards are the ultimate accolades in greeting card publishing, and each year some 14,000 cards are entered!
The UK greeting card industry is a diverse and thriving community, brought together by the GCA who celebrate and encourage diversity and inclusion across the industry.
“There will be very strong competition for this award” said Amanda Fergusson, CEO of the GCA.
“This award will allow us to celebrate and promote the diversity in our industry, encouraging both retailers and publishers to continue the drive to ensure that all communities are represented on greeting cards. We are delighted to be the sponsor” continued Amanda.
Mark Callaby, owner of Ohh Dear and chair of the GCA Diversity and Inclusion Sub-committee said “this award is a really positive step in celebrating diversity within the industry and will provide another great platform for underrepresented groups and showcase some of the fabulous inclusive collections that are available from UK publishers”.
Benefits of entering awards.
See our blog on the Benefits of Entering Awards.
The Henries are judged by a broad range of over 50 retailers from across the UK. Entering the awards puts publishers’ cards in front of these retailers – many business partnerships start on Henries judging day, as retail buyers identify and follow up on cards they like. This year judging is online so several international distributors will be joining the judging team!
The Henries are free to enter, so there is nothing to loose!
The more designs that are entered into this new Diversity and Inclusion Award, the more we have to illustrate and champion the innovation in our vibrant and diverse industry.
Let’s make the sure GCA Diversity and Inclusion Award a new award has a record number of entries!
Visit The Henries Awards to complete your entries, deadline Wednesday 21st July 2021.
How to find cards for diverse communities and occasions
Our industry benefits from a broad range of card publishers – with many setting up business to provide cards for a community that wasn’t previously represented.
The GCA members’ directory, allows buyers to find cards by genre, for example to find publishers designing cards for the Black community search ‘Black’ , if you’re looking for cards for Welsh consumers search ‘Welsh‘.
GCA members can update their directory entries at any time by logging in to the members’ area.
Diversity and Inclusion in the greeting card industry
The Greeting Card Association recognises the importance of continuing to progress on all Diversity and Inclusion fronts.
The GCA is working to encourage retailers to broaden their card selection and to support publishers producing cards for under-represented groups. This will facilitate consumers being able to find cards to match their needs and expectations, and ensure that we continue to engage the next generation of designers and greeting card customers. To read more about this, see our Diversity and Inclusion blog post.
