Send love, from Lover: One town's mission to spread the love this Valentine's
Lover village believes Valentine's Day can be used for the greater good this year
A village, hailed the "most romantic in Wiltshire", has launched a "send a little love" campaign to widen the appeal of Valentine's Day beyond the traditional romantic couples.
With the country in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, the aim this year is to reach out to much-missed friends, family and lonely neighbours and put a smile on their face with a card in the post.
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 village received 2,000 Valentine's cards a year from people wanting to include the unique Lover postmark.
Fast forward to 2016 and love was back in the air with residents resurrecting the service from a pop up post office in the Old School in the village as well as a website.
In the last five years more than 8,000 cards and letters have been stamped with the special cache 'Sent from Lover' - in fact every continent bar Antarctica has been reached!
The initiative has also raised more than £30,000 for the Lover Community Trust.
However, due to the pandemic and in a bid to stop people flocking to the village in person the service has moved online.
LOCKDOWN VALENTINE'S DAY NOT JUST FOR LOVERS!
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.''
TWO NEW CARDS
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.
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, including the Stars Appeal, as another way to say "thank you''.
So far almost £900 has been raised.
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.''