Charity Christmas Cards

I don't actually buy any Christmas cards at all; what few I send, I make myself. I make a donation to the local hospice in lieu and again when the come to collect my Christmas tree. And very glad I am too, after reading how desperate Chinese labourers are that they hide an SOS note in a box of cards.
So much has been written on this forum, and many others, about the negatives of the UK post referendum and recent voting. We also have a GN member who has strenuously lauded the Chinese government and way of life as being superior and fairer than the UK. If someone could post a link to ANY UK prisoner/labourer/worker who has been so oppressed and desperate for help that they've resorted to secreting a message out to the outside world, I'd be interested to read it.

I do think people are now sending fewer Christmas cards although there are still lots on display in the shops. You make a good point about people criticising the UK and praising China when something like this is happening.
I was hoping people would comment on the practice of sending Christmas cards and where they buy them.

Just had a look at my spare Christmas cards.
The Sue Ryder ones say manufactured and printed in the UK, the Age UK ones say The Great British Card Company, so hope they are based here.

I have just written to Cards for Good Causes to ask if the charities could say if their cards are printed and packed in the UK so that this information is provided in their online shop before purchase. Mind you, they sell cards from about 100 charities so maybe that's a tall order!

I was shocked to see these were packed in China. I will check in future. We are sending less cards, as are most we know. Partly due to high cost of postage.

I fancied making my own with old recycled cards. However you presumably still have to buy some new card to stick the picture on, so maybe not so green after all.

I haven't sent cards for years.
Just 2 I used to buy, and now not even those.

I send Amnesty International cards from their catalogue. They have all been posted so I cannot check where they are made.

I try to buy cards each year from the Mouth and Foot painters. I know that my money is going to a good cause, and I know where the cards are produced.
They are all very talented, and produce some beautiful cards.

I am sorry, but maybe my social conscience is lacking - what exactly am I supposed to be outraged/ concerned about.

Is it that the cards are made in China?

Is it that they are being packed by prisoners? I would have thought that a useful occupation and not especially arduous and it could be construed as a good cause to have prisoners doing this as they are making recompense for their crimes surely? I dont know about now, but didnt we make British prisoners undertake work as a means of rehabilitation/ recompense for their crimes once( if not now)?

As for the note..... many prisoners see themselves as hard done by..... not so sure they are.

Or are these people child sweat shop labour, which is a different kettle of fish anyway.

There's not a problem with prisoners working aprilrose but I don't like the idea of sending cards packed in China and possibly by prisoners who are suffering. I would rather send cards printed and packed in the UK which not only supports our country but ensures the packers are not being treated inhumanely. MiniMoon supports a local charity which is a good idea if you have one.

Then all you do Chesnut is what I have done for many years - buy British cards in the UK ( and when in the US I have bought US ones).

As for how hard done by the prisoners are I cannot be sure. Maybe they are badly treated. Many countries have tough penal systems. Besides we dont know what those prisoners have been up to to be in prison do we? They might all be murderers.

I think we should now stop buying things from abroad and become completely self-sufficient. We used to manufacture on a huge scale; get manufacturing done! You just need a soundbite and it will happen.

I fully agree Greta. My new year resolution is to BUY BRITISH and wherever possible buy local although I do already to an extent.......except for Amazon (guilty face)

aprilrose - Then all you do Chesnut is what I have done for many years - buy British cards in the UK
Well I assumed I was with those charity cards but I shall take more care that they are actually produced in the UK.

aprilrose - Besides we dont know what those prisoners have been up to to be in prison do we? They might all be murderers.
You're right but I don't think I want my Christmas cards packed by murderers!

Well I assumed I was with those charity cards but I shall take more care that they are actually produced in the UK.

You have to be careful about assumptions in such matters . I have found that out from experience. I check all over everything now to find out where it was produced. ( of course the EU is top of my boycott list as always! )

I buy charity cards from Thyroid UK or a few other UK charities like MND Association or similar.

Chestnut I buy mine from Cards for Good Causes and all, I believe, are produced in the UK.

however, this year I did buy three for two boxes of the Tesco Christmas cards as a top-up before I heard about this, didn't like them, so passed them on to another good cause which includes a card with food parcels for elderly people.

Chewbacca I have difficulty reconciling those posts with the persona that poster appears to be.

I send very few cards and this year bought mine from the Dogs Trust. I didn't look to see where they were produced.

MiniMoon, DH buys those too

Some media are reporting this morning that this note may be fake.

aprilrose: They would , wouldn't they :-(
The journalist whose name was on the card had been incarcerated in that prison himself, and knew this was no lie.

Why do I not believe some of what I’m reading?

They would , wouldn't they :-(

Maybe they would, maybe they wouldnt. I dont know. I have just stated as I read. Not that the comment about its fakeness was unsympathetic , it seemed to feel that it was used as a means of drawing attention to a cause and was not malicious.

I will stand by my harder stance than the media. If you are in prison then maybe being made to pack cards or work for your keep is not unreasonable. If you get yourself chucked in prison in a foreign country, then maybe it would have been wiser to not go there or not break their laws? Many regimes are stricter than ours . Its not my place to criticise another country in that way.