Local medical health charity Cobalt have been running their card recycling scheme for over 30 years.

Not only does the scheme raise vital funds for the charity, but it also helps reduce waste and provides a sociable weekly get-together for volunteers.

Throughout the year members of the public donate their unwanted greeting cards to the charity, with Christmas cards accepted during the days of 2nd to 12th January only, due to volume.

Volunteers then sift through the donations during what has been dubbed ‘The Big Sort’, organising cards by shape, size and similar designs.

From here the cards are allocated to groups of volunteers who then come in once every week throughout the year to craft them into Cobalt cards.

The Local Answer was invited along to one of the sessions to see how it all works and to meet some of the volunteers involved.

Judith Thomson, Jean Morgan, Dorry Duggleby, Kitts Layman-Jaeger and Monica Aubrey were at Linton House on a Wednesday morning, with piles of greetings cards on the table in front of them.

“I’ve been doing this since 1986,” said Kitts. “Back then it was just one group of volunteers and now it’s 10 groups a week.”

Judith and Jean have both been volunteering for around seven or eight years, Monica for four or five and Dorry for seven months – “I’m very much the newbie of the group,” she added.

Each have their own reasons for getting involved – some had family members with dementia or cancer who were helped by Cobalt – but all agreed the scheme is a great way of helping out.

Judith said: “It’s wonderful because we enjoy it, we’ve made great friends over the years and it’s all for a good cause.

“One lady was volunteering here when she was 101 years old!”

The process of recycling the cards begins with them being cut to size, to fit the Cobalt inserts, which explain that the cards have been recycled and donations for the cards have gone to the charity.

The inserts are then glued in by the volunteers and pressed down – “We use old Argos catalogues to press them, not the most scientific method!” said Jean.

When the cards are ready, they are sorted once again – some are put into packs of five and can be bought as a set – and are distributed to local stockists, which include hairdressers, post offices and dentists, among others.

It’s suggested that people donate 80p per card, £1.25 or £1.50 for packs of 5, depending on size. All profits then go towards funding important Specialist Research Nurses for Gloucestershire, and the scheme alone raises around £30,000 a year, as well as spreading awareness of the charity.

For a list of Cobalt Cards stockists visit: https://www.cobalthealth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180319CobaltCards-Copy.pdf

For more information on Cobalt visit www.cobalthealth.co.uk