Stationery Supplies doubles charity donation as kids’ card comp winners impress
Inspiring designs and very happy children have meant Stationery Supplies indie retailer Sarah Laker particularly enjoyed her store’s Christmas Card Competition – so much so, she’s doubling her charity donations from sales.
With 78 entries from children at her two shops, based in Marple and Wilmslow, Sarah struggled to pick a shortlist before thankfully handing over the job of choosing the winners to a public vote, which came up with winners Sofia, Adie, Sneha and Lucy, two for each store.
Thanks to Jo Wilson and her team at Dandelion Stationery the four designs have been professionally printed and paired with festive red envelopes and are now on sale in store, with £2 of the £2.50 per card price going to the parent-teachers’ associations of the winners’ schools.
“I’m loving the backs of the cards too,” Sarah told PG Buzz, “Jo always goes that extra mile, massive thanks to them for their sponsorship of the competition. And we’re donating £2 now, instead of just £1, from each sale as we’ve been so impressed with the response to the competition and quality of entries.
“Sofia was the first winner to collect her cards – she couldn’t stop smiling. It was an absolute pleasure to hear her gasp with delight as she saw her penguin design as a card for the first time, and then gasp again when she saw her card on sale in the shop!
“Her dad had finished work early to come with her and her mum. Sofia was telling me who they were going to send cards to and she’s going to write one for her mum’s memory box too.
“I’ve loved every minute of this competition. I also think it’s a great insight for children into the world of greeting cards and how they are produced – let’s hope we’ve inspired the next generation of card designers. Seeing their happy faces has made my day.”
Seven-year-old Lucy was also delighted to be one of the winners, and couldn’t wait to tell Sarah some more good news – her creative triumph also earned her head teacher’s award and 1,000 team points. You can hear it from Lucy herself in the video below.
Appropriately, the four new Christmas cards went into Sarah’s stores on Festive Friday, 2 December, with sales already going well.
As something of a community liaison specialist – as winning the Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative at The Retas 2022 Awards for her Giving Back to charity and community programme shows – Sarah hasn’t finished yet as Stationery Suppliers was the proud sponsor of the All Saints Primary School’s design a logo contest.
She said: “I was really happy to donate the prizes, with a little help from my lovely suppliers Maped Helix, of a colouring bundle for the winner and filled pencil cases for the runners up. I think they all did a superb job and absolutely love the hand-heart on the winning design!”
Top: Winning smiles from winning young designers Sofia, Adie, Sneha and Lucy
