Say it with a card

Throughout the ongoing coronavirus crisis, people have increasingly been looking to connect with friends and loved ones in a truly meaningful way. 

While social media is a great way of keeping in touch on a day-to-day basis, a handwritten birthday card is one of the most heartfelt ways of showing that you care on someone’s birthday.

According to our latest research, a hand-written birthday card still carries a lot of weight for the majority of Brits, as more than half of us (54 per cent) say that we value a hand-written birthday card from family and friends over a message on social media.

Sunday 27 September marks the most common day for UK birthdays, resulting in a greater number of cards than usual being posted in letterboxes across the nation.

On average, each person is said to send around 10 birthday cards every year – with around two-thirds (61 per cent) saying that they consider receiving a birthday card to be an important part of their celebrations.

Despite our addiction to social media, many of us continue to value the tangible and more personal nature of a hand-written card which can be stored for posterity. One in five of us (20 per cent) say we deeply value seeing a window sill or mantelpiece full of birthday cards on the special day.

The top targets for sending a birthday missive are parents (51 per cent) and friends (51 per cent), closely followed by siblings (48 per cent), children (47 per cent) and partners (47per cent).

Grandparents also make it onto our list (15 per cent) as well as work colleagues (12 per cent). Four percent of us even find time to send cards to our pets, while a further two percent of us can’t resist sending a card to an ex – perhaps for old time’s sake.