We are launching 2 projects this week to make it even easier to make a sick child smile! We ran them a couple of years ago and found them a big success with both volunteers and Pals enjoying it!

Project 1) Print 1 sheet a week. Do you have time to print 1 sheet of paper a week? If so then this is for you! You will be assigned a child and once a week a word document containing a card and message will be emailed to you. All you have to do is simply hit print, fold the card, sign your name and pop it in the post to your assigned child. It’s really as simple as that and it would guarantee every Pal and sibling a piece of post a week. To take part please email Lorna with your name, email address, how many children you would like to write to and if you would prefer a young or older child.

Project 2) Could you commit to sending 1 piece of post every 2 weeks? We are looking for volunteers so every Pal and sibling will have someone assigned to them. We have found both poster and child really benefit from hearing from someone regularly, especially the siblings, who often don’t get as much attention as the ill child. This is a longer term commitment, although not strict, so if you miss a week it doesn’t matter. To take part email Emma with your name, email address and how many children you would like to be assigned to.

Please forward this onto friends and post on message boards/blogs etc as we have a lot of children these days!

NB: If you have taken part in these schemes in the past, we are starting them from afresh, so you will be re-assigned to someone.

We have a received a lovely message from Samantha H saying” Thank you to everybody in the whole wide world for all their cards and presents!” and it really made us smile!

I’ve just finished reading Nicole D‘s book ‘The way I see it’ which was published earlier this year. On the inside cover is a picture of Nicole in a pink wig which Post Pals managed to find for her. She said she would like one, so we hunted around and found the company Sparkly Strawberry who kindly provided seven – plus a pink hat which Nicole is wearing on the back cover! At the end of the book it has a paragraph about Post Pals which says;

I joined Post Pals in 2006. It’s a website for poorly children and the aim is to ‘post a smile on a sick child’s face’. Each ‘Pal’ has their own page with their details, things they like, updates and forwarding address. Anyone can write to them or sent them a gift to cheer them up when they’re ill. Post Pals was set up in 2004 by five teenagers who all have health problems, with two of them being bedbound. They’re all volunteers and spend a lot of time sending post to the ‘Pals’. I’ve received letters, cards and presents from all over the world. I got a lot of post when I relapsed. I made a comment on my website that i wanted to get a pink wig, and someone sent me seven in different styles and shades of pink – one for each day of the week – and a pink cowboy hat. It really did make me smile. I was also sent ‘Chemo duck’, who is the coolest duck ever. He has little pyjamas on, and when you open his top he has a plaster on under it. When you take that off, he has a little plastic Hickman line in his chest. He also has a bandanna because he has lost all his feathers, bless him. Another one of my favourite things is that someone adopted a monkey for me in North Carolina. That’s something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember, as monkeys are my favourite animal. Post Pals is a fantastic site, and does a great job. If you have a spare five minutes, write to a child and help make them smile!

It’s true what they say, sometimes it’s the little things in life that are important. For Nicole this meant a pink wig, and for Chloe K this currently means earrings. She desperately wants to have her ears pierced but the doctor’s won’t allow it and her Mum was unable to find any clip on ones for her. Cue Post Pal volunteers to spring into action, hunting around the Internet and shops then sending magnetic ones. Chloe can now wear earrings just like her friends.

Hello, I’m just posting a short update to let people know who live near the stores ‘The Works’ that 82 of them are closing down. They sold things like kids craft kits and little gifts cheaply anyway, but are now having closing down sales including ‘fill a large bag with greeting cards for a £1’ so if you live near one it might be worth checking it out!

Thank you to all of you who sent Post during February, it was nice to see the mail stats page looking busy. Sadly 3 children have relapsed (cancer) this year alone and plenty more are in need of some TLC so please keep the smiles coming. Here is a picture of Kirsty with what arrived in the post one day.