South-east London-based SR worked over the Christmas period to post out the appeal two weeks ago. Another 140,000 mailings have been completed by the printer, which worked closely with the Red Cross' creative agency WWAV West. SR printed, enclosed and mailed the appeal pack.

"If it was not for the dedication of the staff the job would not have got out of the door," said SR account director Paul Fletcher.

Fletcher added that SR and WWAV West had worked to get an emergency mailing out last year for the Iranian earthquake.

"I had to make endless calls on the Bank Holiday Monday to staff. With it being Christmas it was not easy to do," he said.
The mailings contained individually personalised letters, a donation form and a reply-paid envelope.

"We are on 24-hour standby. With our previous experience and the artwork in place we always had a chance of releasing this mailing on time," said Fletcher.

Although there are no initial results from the project the British Red Cross' campaign for the tsunami had raised 4m over Christmas and the New Year.

"We realised the Red Cross' need to raise additional funds was immediate and we were ready to mail the appeal as soon as the Royal Mail postal system was available to us on 28 December," said Fletcher.

Additional funds from the mailings were needed by the British Red Cross to bring life saving assistance to the thousands left homeless in the wake of the tsunami.

Story by Philip Chadwick