Used Stamp Appeal in Daventry passes significant milestone

The scheme, organised by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has collected 650,000 stamps since it began seven years ago.

The stamps have been donated by people in the Daventry area and the funds raised as a result go to charities Oxfam and Leukaemia CARE.

Des Waddington, project coordinator for the Church, said: “The project has been running in the Daventry area for about seven years and with the terrific support of local residents, schools and businesses, it has gone from strength to strength.

“Passing the 650,000 milestone is incredible, that’s a total that we never even dreamed of in the beginning.”

The processing of the stamps involves cutting excess paper from around them, sorting into UK or overseas and then counting them into batches of 500. They are then donated to the charities.

Sara Johnson, community fundraising officer at Leukaemia CARE, said: “We are thrilled to be part of the stamp appeal, it is a wonderful example of a community coming together to help local charities, we are extremely grateful to all involved.”

A key element of the appeal is the role played by the two drop off points in Daventry – the Post Office on Sheaf Street and Orchard Print on the High Street.

Jan Head, owner of Orchard Print, said: “We are delighted with the support from the people of Daventry and surrounding villages for the stamp collection, and urge them to keep up the good work.

“All the stamp donations, no matter how small, add up to help people in need both at home and abroad.

All varieties of used stamps are valuable to the appeal, even the current first and second class ones.