Every Christmas, GCA members visit care homes across the UK to help residents write Christmas cards to family and friends, spreading festive cheer and helping keep the tradition of card sending alive.
What started as a simple idea from Five Dollar Shake in 2022 has grown into a nationwide initiative, with publishers, retailers and suppliers donating cards, sharing their time and helping create meaningful connections during the festive season.
The initiative is part of the GCA’s wider #Cardmitment campaign, encouraging people to send more cards and stay connected through handwritten messages.
This year, we’d love to see even more members get involved.
New for 2026
We’re delighted to share a new Caring at Christmas social media graphic, created by Wendy Jones-Blackett, which members can download and use across their social media channels, websites and newsletters to promote their involvement and encourage others to take part.
Whether you’re planning a care home visit, donating cards or helping residents write messages to their loved ones, we’d love to see you sharing your stories and photos using #Cardmitment.
Why Take Part?
For many care home residents, writing a Christmas card is about far more than putting pen to paper.
Sending cards helps maintain important connections with family and friends, sparks memories, encourages conversation and often results in cards being received in return. For residents who may not be able to visit the High Street or choose cards themselves, a Caring at Christmas visit can help keep an important festive tradition alive.
As one care home manager told us: “It will give our residents a feeling of purpose, independence and continued communication. Many of the older generation have for years sent their cards. It will evoke memories and assist reminiscence. A lot of mental and physical wellbeing can be enjoyed by this simple act. Thank you for the opportunity.”
How Caring at Christmas Started
Matt’s top tips for getting started.
After several years of organising Caring at Christmas visits, Matt has gathered some practical advice for anyone looking to get involved:
GCA Members Caring at Christmas 2025
In 2025 members once again stepped up with visits, school card-making, and special moments that made a big difference to residents, carers, families, and friends.
Abacus Cards
Caring at Christmas 2025 activities kicked off with a wonderful visit to Manson House Care Home in Bury St Edmunds, where Nick Carey, Managing Director of Abacus Cards, and Jon from the Abacus Studio spent a joyful afternoon with residents.
Nick said “We were warmly greeted by Rosie, the Events Coordinator, and her fantastic team before settling in with the residents for a festive card-writing session. The afternoon was full of Christmas cheer — carols, Christmas jumpers, mince pies, chocolates, tea and coffee — and plenty of laughter. Two residents even stood up and sang the French national anthem, it was a really fun afternoon”
Events co-ordinator Rosie said “Fabulous afternoon! Thank you so, so much!”
Paperlink
Emma Young, along with Paperlink CEO Louise, her husband Kevin, and their daughter Frankie, all took part in bringing festive cheer to a care home in East Sussex.
Together, they spent time writing Christmas cards with residents, many of whom took extra cards to finish later. As they did last year, the team will return in a couple of days to collect and post the cards.
Much of the visit was spent chatting, sharing stories, and even enjoying carols sung by residents!
Emma said she was truly humbled to learn about their incredible lives—one had been a famous Savile Row tailor, another a Glyndebourne opera singer.
Emma said it was heartwarming to see familiar faces from last year, and as a local resident, Emma even knew some personally.
The care home staff have asked if this could become an annual tradition—and Paperlink is delighted to make that happen.
Danilo
A few of the team from Danilo visited Ashbrook Court Care Home in Waltham Abbey as part of the Greeting Card Association’s Caring for Christmas initiative. Claire Bates said “It was lovely to spend some time supporting residents with their Christmas card writing”.
Great British Card Company
The Great British Card Company team also took part in Caring at Christmas by visiting Stratton Court Care Home in Cirencester to write cards with the residents. Their sister company, Ling Design, will be visiting Rush Hill Mews in Bath to do the same, helping spread festive cheer and connection.
Loxleys
Loxleys shared the Christmas cheer by taking part in the GCA Caring at Christmas campaign, helping care home residents keep their festive traditions by assisting with card writing to their carers, family, and friends. This year’s cards were kindly donated by Paper Rose and were shared (along with a Christmas chocolate or two) with residents at Twelve Trees, Nether Edge.
Stormy Knight, Emily Nash and James Ellis
Sarah Jackson from Stormy Knight also joined in the GCA’s Caring at Christmas campaign with some wonderful activities. On 1st December, Sarah visited her daughter Phoebe’s school—St Anne’s Infant School in Bristol—where they held a Card Club with the reception class, creating Christmas cards to take into a local care home.
On 10th December, Sarah and Kelly from Stormy Knight, along with Emily (Emily Nash Illustration) and James and Louise (James Ellis Designs), visited Bishopsmead Lodge Care Home in Bedminster Down, Bristol—marking their third year of visiting. They brought a selection of cards to write with the residents and delivered the cards made by Phoebe and her classmates to the 40 residents. James even brought his guitar and played and sang Christmas songs, adding an extra touch of festive cheer.
Wendy Jones-Blackett & Fiona Pitt
GCA council members Wendy from Wendy Jones-Blackett and Fiona Pitt from Hallmark also joined in the Caring at Christmas initiative. On Festive Friday, they visited Sunnyside Care Home in Leeds to write Christmas cards with the residents—how fitting to spread festive cheer on such a special day!
GCA Members Caring at Christmas 2023
In 2023 members across the country teamed up to visit local care homes. This included Five Dollar Shake, Roger la Borde, Abacus, Max Publishing, GCA’s CEO Amanda Fergusson, Loxleys, Really Wild Cards, Paper Salad, Ling and GBBC, Woodmansterne and UKG.
Five Dollar Shake headed to Hastings and St Leonards on the south coast, having already developed relationships with local care homes the previous year. Five Dollar also swapped cards with other GCA members to offer residents lots to choose from.
Jakki Brown, GCA Council member and md of Max Publishing visited Berehill Care Home in Whitchurch, Hampshire where her father is a resident, armed with a selection of donated cards from The Art File, Paper Salad, Raspberry Blossom and Stormy Knight as well as pens donated by Pentel.
Roger La Borde were pleased to “sprinkle a little Christmas card joy to the residents” in two North London care homes, with GCA’s Amanda Fergusson taking cards donated by Second Nature and GBBC/Ling into a care home in Twickenham.
Loxleys visited residents at Sheffield’s Valley Wood Care home in Heeley, delighting residents and manager Louise Crocker, and achieving some great publicity in the Sheffield Star.
UK Greetings visited care homes in Batley, Dewsbury and Huddersfield West Yorkshire.
A team from Ling Design in Bath went into the Rush Hill Mews care home in Bath, writing over 50 cards with over a dozen residents. Volunteers from their sister firm, GBCC (The Great British Card Company) in Gloucester called into the Stratton Court care home in Cirencester, supporting residents to write and send over 100 cards.
Meanwhile over in Bury St Edmunds, Iain Hamilton and team at Bewilderbeest headed into Nowton Corut care home, sharing cookies and jokes with residents.
Sarah and Kelly from Stormy Knight, Lizzie from Penguin Ink and David from Ricicle Cards joined forces to visit Bishopsmead Lodge Care Home in Bristol; both residents and staff joined in to write the cards, and also the local Bristol Post newspaper ran a lovely piece sharing the story with their readers.
Meanwhile the some GCA members extended the initiative by donating cards to charities. Woodmansterne supported Crisis at Christmas, and Second Nature and Belly Button donated cards to a Salvation Army hostel.
Share the Joy!
We hope this initiative will start a wave of Christmas card sending across the country. And that the residents of care homes across the country will receive lots of cards back!
Please email danielle@gca.cards to let us know the home(s) you are visiting, or if you know a care home and aren’t able to visit yourself but would like us to find a local publisher who perhaps could
Further Information
For Christmas stats and fun facts to share, use for your local media/press releases, see our Who Sent the First Christmas Card blog
To download and use our FREE #Cardmitment toolkit click here
For all the latest #Cardmitment news
Find out more about Festive Friday , the day when everyone in the greeting card industry posts their Christmas cards
What makes us British? Our Mantelpiece
The History of Greeting Cards – look back at 100 Years of Greeting Cards
Our #Cardmitment campaign is receiving media coverage across the country, including national coverage on BBC Breakfast and Radio 5 Live among others, click the link above to our blog to see all the latest coverage.
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