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The “most romantic village in the world” is encouraging people to send cards to everyone they have missed this Valentine’s Day.
The village of Lover, in Wiltshire, has launched a “send a little love” campaign, in a bid to broaden the appeal of Valentine’s Day beyond just romantic couples, to include much-missed friends, family and lonely neighbours.
Supported by the Royal Mail, volunteer cupids will be working from home to stamp cards with Lover’s special postmark, before they are sent around the world.
Up until 2005, the post office in the village received 2,000 Valentine’s cards a year from people wanting to include the unique Lover postmark.
After it closed, residents of the village formed the Lover Community Trust and in the last five years have stamped more than 8,000 cards and letters with ‘Sent from Lover’ — and raised more than £30,000 for the village.
However, due to the pandemic and in a bid to stop people flocking to the village in person, the service has moved online.
Nick Gibbs, chairman of the Lover Community Trust said: “This year it is so important to help people stay connected and our much-loved service is perfectly placed to do just that.
“We want to help start a new tradition on Valentine’s Day of sending a little love to your special someone, relatives and friends. Our range of cards and special cachet stamp is an extra special way of raising a much-needed smile across the world.”
The website is already taking orders for cards which will be sent on their way with a Lover stamp by the village postman.
Chris Gwilliam, the local postman for Lover, said: “It is a particularly special time in the village of Lover and I look forward to playing my part in helping people to send a little bit of love this year.”
The Lover Community Trust has also provided the option to make an online donation to two NHS charities as another way to say “thank you”.
As well as popular pop-up cards, two special cards have been added to this year’s collection — one that includes Stanley, the village’s mascot dog, and another designed by the local pre-school, featuring a cartoon child holding a bunch of heart balloons.
Nick Landon, from Royal Mail, said: “We are proud and pleased to play a part in this loving celebration that shares so much joy and happiness in these challenging times.”
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