HP UK Press Release

NCH, the Children’s charity to receive £1 per message donated

LONDON, November 4th, 2005 – Forget sending gimmicky, arty or humorous Christmas cards this year. A national poll today shows that 84% of Brits are more likely to cherish a home made or a personalised card this Christmas. 

When shown a variety of home made, traditional, humorous, nativity, comic and winter scenes cards, 76% of the population said that they feel more “special” the more personalised the card.  51% of people admitted that receiving a card with no personal message inside actually made then feel snubbed. 

In response to the nation’s appetite to create and make, Hewlett Packard has teamed up with the NCH, the Children’s Charity to create a huge national Festive Card that will be delivered to Her Majesty, the Queen on December 15th. HP is calling on the general public to submit the digital photos that best represent their vision of the family’s festive spirit.

The photos and messages can be images of family, friends or classic symbols of this time of year. These images can be sent to HP by visiting http://www.hp.com/uk/festivecard. HP along with the NCH will then choose 500 of the most colourful and creative images and messages to create a life-sized 350 x 250cm card.

The eight-foot sized card will feature seasonal images donated by the British public together with their personal festive messages to Her Majesty.  For every picture and message donated, HP will donate £1 to the NCH’s Keeping Families Together Project.

While numbers of cards sent has steadily grown year on year, with over 2 billion cards sent last year alone, the messages contained and types of cards sent has changed dramatically. The vast majority of those polled believed that the best cards tended to be those that included personalised messages with warm colouring as oppose to the mass produced high street cards. 

The independent poll conducted by digital colour expert, HP, along with a series of research projects into the hidden power of colour, found that elements such as festive cards were key in delivering the Nations most heartwarming festive messages.

Eve Bazely, Fundraising Manager at the NCH, said,”This is a fantastic and generous initiative by HP, with a sentiment that mimics our own. Through this generous donation, HP will help our Keeping Families Together project and help families with disadvantaged children to make the most of the holiday season.” Bazely added, “Kids within our projects don’t tend to receive cards and our hope is that with HP, we can re-awaken the nations interest in warm, family orientated, festive messages”.

Norman Richardson, HP Consumer Director commented: “This is a chance for everyone to do their bit for a very worthy charity and be part of a unique sentiment that will sum up all that is good about this time of year. The photos featured on the card will epitomise what is fundamental to a good family holiday during this festive season. We urge the British public to really get behind this and send their most colourful and creative photos to help us help the NCH.” 

The card follows HP’s recent research into the hidden power of colour and its importance during the festive season. Through clinical research tests with colour psychology expert, Dr David Lewis, the effect of colour in the home was shown to have significant impact on the national psyche. Moreover, the results showed that different colours did affect mood, intelligence and even physical strength. As the colour expert, HP hope that by sending in their colourful photos, the country as a whole can benefit from the positive effects of colour and look to reignite interest in the sharing of festive messages. 

1. Research carried out by HP “Colour Squads” throughout October 2005, in London, Leeds, Edinburgh and Cardiff
2. HP will donate £1 for the first 10, 000 images supplied.
3. Independent survey of 1010 British adults carried out by TNS research on behalf of HP
4. Study of 40 participants carried out by psychologist Dr David Lewis under clinical   conditions.
5. Copies of the full regional “colour confidence” rankings available upon request.