AB2U Blog

By: Dianne Beer

I was prompted to write a blog page about the fact that Abenefit2u collect postage stamps for charity by my wonderful mother. As I was just about to return to London this evening, after spending Fathers Day in sunny Essex with all my family, my mother handed me lots of little bags each with different items I have asked my family to collect for charity, one of which are postage stamps for the Royal National Institute of the Blind.

I am now back home and have sorted through all the stamps to put them into two piles for storage until the end of the year, as Christmas is always a nice time to review all our charity work and send in our collections. Unless of course we fill the boxes before this…

If you also think this is a nice idea and would like to collect postage stamps here are the instructions on how the RNIB like to receive stamps:

• Please leave approximately ½ to 1cm of envelope bordering each stamp. The rest of the envelope can be discarded (which will make it cheaper to send).
• Please note that if stamps have too much excess paper agents will not buy the stamps.
• Please do not remove the stamp off the envelope as they are damaged more easily.
• Please separate the stamps into three categories:
  1) British
  2) Pre-decimal
  3) Foreign (anything outside mainland Britain is classed as overseas)
• The stamps do not have to be sorted into individual countries or prices etc
• The value of a stamp does not matter, so 1p stamps can be grouped together with £1 stamps.
• Collected stamps should be sent to:
  RNIB Stamp Recycling
  PO Box 185
  BENFLEET
  SS7 9BH

Stamps are sorted by volunteers and then sold to dealers or collectors. They are mostly sold by weight, but if the RNIB can identify any valuable stamps they can be sold for a higher price. As a general guideline RNIB can expect to receive approximately £3 a kilo for UK stamps and approximately £10 – £15 a kilo for foreign stamps.

The following letter was sent to Abenefit2u by a RNIB Volunteer:

Dear Friends,

I am writing to say thank you for helping us in our fundraising efforts by helping us collect as many stamps as possible. Any amount large or small is much appreciated. I can assure you that every stamp you send, British or Foreign will help raise money for the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Stamps cut out and sorted correctly can be sent directly to my buyer to RNIB, PO Box 6198, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9XT to save my loft space and we raise more money this way.

Please could you ask your family and other contacts to save their stamps for us and please remind them that they should they have approximately ½ – 1cm of envelope surrounding the stamp to prevent damage, but don’t panic if this isn’t possible and have the back of the envelope removed as well. (Works out cheaper to send as well). Please note that if stamps have too much excess paper our agent will not buy our stamps. Stamps should be separated into three categories, British, pre-decimal and foreign. Anything outside mainland Britain is classed as overseas. The stamps do not have to be sorted into individual countries or prices etc. PLEASE DO NOT remove the stamp off the envelope as they are damaged easily if they are.

We raise approximately £3 a kilo for UK stamps and approximately £10 – £15 a kilo for foreign stamps. We have managed to raise £5,511 in the tax year 2007-2008 and would love to reach a new target of at least £6,500 by the end of March 2009.

We are desperate for more contacts to send us their stamps in Great Britain and overseas so please spread the word of our appeal to anyone and everyone. We cannot provide over sixty services to blind and partially sighted children and adults without your support. I can also send details onto anyone via email. Remember this is an ongoing appeal and so stamps can be delivered at anytime of the year, whenever it suits you. Please contact me if you wish to have any questions or need stamp appeal posters or small leaflets for Christmas cards etc about our appeal.

Please contact me by letter, telephone or email if you have any questions.

I thank you for your support and happy collecting!

Kind regards

Mrs Terri Bush, Volunteer Stamp Appeal Co-ordinator.

If, like us, most of the post that you receive does not have a postage stamp (since many organisations use a franking machine) and you are therefore unlikely to collect a large amount of stamps yourself each year, then we would be delighted to forward them on for you if you wish to send us your used postage stamps. Abenefit2u will then send a large box containing all the stamps at the end of the year, as all the small collections soon add up…

The RNIB managed to raise £5,511 in the tax year 2007-2008 and would love to reach a new target of at least £6,500 by the end of March 2009.

For every £1 raised, the RNIB spends 84p directly helping blind and partially sighted people, 14p on raising more vital funds and 2p on administration.

There are around two million people in the UK with a sight problem. Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) is the leading sight loss charity offering information, support and advice to anyone with a sight problem.

“Every day 100 people start to lose their sight. Your support helps the RNIB rebuild lives devastated by sight loss”

Information within this blog was taken was taken from sources of information sent directly to Abenefit2u by the RNIB and the RNIB website: www.rnib.org.uk

Some examples of stamps collected by Abenefit2u so far…