Interview with BBC Radio 5 Live - five minute listen
Today, Alison was interviewed by Adrian Chiles on BBC Radio 5 Live with regards the rising cost of stamps in the UK.
Adrian Chiles:
News today that the first class stamp is going up by 10p to 95p today. It somehow, I mean short of going past the pound mark. I mean, it's still kind of shocking. It's suddenly that expensive, especially if you haven't been keeping track of this. Is this the end of the of letter writing? Allison Hitchcock is a lover of letter writing, founder of From Me to You, a charity that encourages people to write letters to family, friends, and even strangers suffering from cancer. Alison, so what is the importance of letters to if you like somebody who's suffering with illness? What why would why better than a text or an email?
Alison Hitchcock:
Yeah, good morning, Adrian. I think for a lot of people who are suffering from cancer, but but not just a cancer diagnosis, life can become quite isolating and quite lonely, because they can't go out, they're not going to work anymore. We all know, from the last two years, what isolation feels like. And a letter arriving on your doormat is just a gift. Because I think in this age of digital communication, we have so little touch in our communication. But a letter is something that you can take, you can hold, you can reread. And you know that the person who sent it has had to really put some effort into sitting down and writing, get buying the stamp going to the post box and sending it. So it's not just like a text or an email where somebody who's very easily on their phone said, I'm thinking of you, which is great and has its place. But this has taken a lot more effort. And when I was writing to my friend, Brian, and when he had cancer, which is how the whole charity started, he used to take those letters to his chemo session, or he would save them for a time in the day when he was you know, he knew that he'd be feeling quite alone. And he'd read them. And he said that it was like I was there with him. And so I think letters really do have an important place. Particularly for people who are not able to be out and about socialising so much, I think if you are, you know, at home or in hospital, and on your own a letter as a gift, it's so much more special.
Adrian Chiles:
Do you think the rising cost of stamps will pose some kind of existential threat? If you're going to be if you're minded to write a letter, you're going to go to that trouble? Will you a jet object to spending the 95p on a first class stamp?
Alison Hitchcock:
I think that people will be shocked at how, how much the first class stamp has gone up. But I think what's interesting is that the second class stamp has got only gone up by two pence. And I think part of the letter writing is that it's about what is one of those activities, which is more considered, it's more reflective, it doesn't need to happen quickly. It's not one of those things in our lives, that's really speeded up. And we have to have it the next day. So I would advise that we all stick a second class stamp on our letters, we know that they'll still arrive within two or three days. But but we were not telling anything urgent because if we were we would text or email which is exactly what those mediums are for. So I would hope that it's not going to put people off. But I think that that price increase will have shocked people but but I think that if you're - it's still only going to cost you a pound. 30 minutes of your time and less than a pound to send something that will bring a lot of pleasure and a lot of comfort, and in some cases distraction to the recipient. And you're probably going to spend three pounds on the way to the postbox on your takeout coffee. So, so whilst we're all you know, trying to do the best that we can with the cost of living etc. I think actually spending less than a pound on something as as great as a letter is not too much to ask.
You can listen to the full five minute interview from 28 minutes on Naga Munchetty’s show on BBC Sounds, or via this recording.