One of our Past Presidents, John Hill, has been collecting stamps from fellow Rotarians, their friends and families in support of Pilgrim’s Hospices for a number of years. Here is information of how those stamps help.
Pilgrims Hospices is a registered charity that provides specialist care to patients and families across east Kent. Tim Stewart, Retail & Business Development Manager for Pilgrims Hospices, kindly wrote to tell us what happens to the stamps that we and others collect.
The charity has two teams of Philatelists that travel to a warehouse in Tivoli every Friday to sort through the stamps. Most of the stamps, on and off paper, are sorted into kiloware boxes and sold at auction. Unfranked stamps are put into the kiloware boxes as an incentive to bidders, while books of unfranked 1st and 2nd class stamps are used internally by the hospice.
Small starter packs are also sold through shops. Nicer collections and albums are sold via online auction /selling sites (advice having been provided on listing details etc.)
Amazingly, this year their efforts have raised almost £4,000. This certainly spurs us on to keep on collecting for this very worthy cause.
Picture: Stamps for Pilgrims Hospices. Picture credit: Rotary Club of Canterbury.
