Dame Hilary Blume is my new heroine. I couldn’t agree more with her comments regarding the sourcing of charity Christmas cards, in our briefing on the topic in the new issue of PrintWeek. 

By the same token I disagree with David Noble’s comments about it being impossible to plead for a special case.

I do think that charity cards are a special case. Here’s why.

To me, it really does come down to the fundamental question of “where do your donations come from?”

Yes we live in a global, free market economy. If the product involved was an item that simply wasn’t manufactured here in the UK, like all the plastic Christmas tat that’s made in China, then I accept it would be a pretty hopeless situation.

But it’s not, it’s printed cards. They could and should be printed here.

I really do salute the charities, such as Oxfam and the British Red Cross, who print their cards in the UK and it’s good to see them highlighting that point. Rah to them. And there are others, too, such as Help for Heroes and the Woodland Trust who make sure their cards are printed locally.

They deserve our support, the others – especially supermarket charity cards that are printed in China AND involve a tiny donation relative to the pack price, do not.

I hope more charities that do print in the UK will promote this point. It’s important. That way more people, like me, will be encouraged to study both the front and the back of cards, and to open their purses accordingly.