#PostCircle

"I've always felt there was something sacred in a piece of paper that travels the world from hand to hand, head to head, heart to heart." ~Robert Michael Pyle

When I featured this post recently on, well, post, and the joys of receiving lovely exciting post through the, well, post, a lot of you responded with great enthusiasm, which filled me with glee to see. (I cannot write today.) A conversation with @AmyFarry ensued on Twitter and suddenly I was offering to set up a post circle. As in, we all send lovely post and receive lovely post and are all happy and, well, avec-post. Good eh? So, would you like to be in  #PostCircle? Then read on, dear pen pal, read on...

This is how it works (and thank you to Anna of Skin and Blister because your organisation of #heartswap made this so much easier to get my head around):

1. If you would like to be a member of #PostCircle comment below AND email me at hellopostcircle@gmail.com. I will then send you a quick survey to complete. (We all love a good survey). 
2. After a week I will be dividing those who want to take part into groups of six. That doesn't mean no one else can join in - you can join any time - but I'll need to get going on making up the groups. I decided to form sub-groups so that I'm not giving out, say fifty addresses to fifty different people, and I can keep track of things more easily.
3. In the first instance each member will be assigned a partner just for the first time we post. This ensures that everyone receives nice post. 
4. After that, you can post to whoever you like in your group. The idea is that every time you receive some snail mail, you then send some out. This keeps things moving. 

The rules:

1. In returning your survey to me you agree that myself and five other people will have your address, and you theirs. I promise that I will not use your address for anything other than #PostCircle (ie, selling it to nasty spammy marketing companies) and you agree to the same. After a few months I may shuffle round the groups to keep things fresh but I will not do so without your permission. (If you snap photos of your post to social media please just make sure addresses are not visible).
2. When you receive post it's time to send something out. You don't have to post to the person who sent you post, you can send it to anyone in your circle. And don't panic and think you have to post something that day!
3. Please write #PostCircle on each piece of post you send.
4. If you don't receive any post for, say, three months, bob me an email and I will do a shoutout to your group to get things going again.
5. You can of course leave #PostCircle any time. Just email.
6. Your nice post can be anything you like, but please don't feel any pressure to 'spend money' on your post. A postcard, a handwritten note, a full-blown letter, an autumn leaf, a sweet button you found in your stash or a photo of that cheerful-looking frog you met on your walk yesterday are all great. #PostCircle isn't designed to rack up huge costs in 'gifts' to others. If you choose to spend money on a cuddly zebra because you know someone in your group loves them, that's wonderful and generous, but it is your choice and no one is under any pressure to match your spending. The idea is just to receive something thoughtful and lovely in the post on a regular basis, not to make yourself bankrupt. Remember that the cost of a stamp is a thought in itself! (And second class is fine too!)
7. International members - I will try to accommodate you but as yet I can't promise until I know how many UK members are willing to spend the extra posting abroad. Please do register your interest and I will come back to you when I know more. 
8. You don't have to wait to receive some post before you send some out, but please do send some out for every one you receive.

Here's to exciting post!