People Matters

When 10-year-old Jay Harrison saved up pocket money to buy his Mum a lovely Christmas card, he had no idea that he would be starting a family tradition that would span three decades.

PG fully embraced the heartwarming story of a Simon Elvin card that has not only passed between a mother and son every year for 30 years, but the exchange reached new heights on the Christmas Day just gone, all serving to reinforce the power greeting cards wield in our lives.

Simon Elvin has published millions upon millions of greeting cards since he started the publishing company that bears his name back in 1978. An email from a member of the public about one particular design ignited Simon to delve into the company’s rich archives, make contact with fine artist Kevin Shepherd (who painted the original design) and engage in an enduring Christmas tradition for one devoted mother and son.

Roseleen (Roe, as she likes to be called) Walsh, who works for the NHS in Oswestry hospital, wrote to Simon Elvin to pay tribute to the quality of the cards he publishes, with ample proof, namely one Christmas card that has been passed between her son Jay and herself for the last 30 Christmasses.

“Some 30 years ago, I received a Christmas card from my then 10 year old son Jay who had saved his pocket money to spend £1.00 on a card, which was the earth to us back then,” said Roe of the Code 100 card which features a cat and mouse design, typical of the popular cute style of the early 90s. “I was very happy to receive it,” said Roe of the card (that Jay bought from Neighbours of Chirk, a convenience store that is now owned by the Co-op). Although not a fan of cats, and still bemused as to why this particular design was selected by her son, she loves how being given that card by her young son was to spark a family tradition that was to span three decades and continues to this day.

“The following Christmas he handed me the same card, and has done every year since,” Roe continued about the annual card exchange. “The card has become a big part of our family Christmas traditions,” Roe adds.

In the front ‘Roe’

Roe is a firm believer in the buying and sending of greeting cards, something she inherited from her father, who she describes as having been “the greeting card king” who sadly passed away in March last year. “He would “spend hours finding the right card, especially selecting the verse, for birthday and anniversary cards for Mum. The sentiment he put into his card choices would bring a tear to the hardest heart,” says Roe. “I recently sat and read the Christmas card that my Mum and Dad sent me for Christmas 2020. Seeing his handwritten message in a card that he sent me a few months before his death evoked fabulous memories of him. That was the last Christmas card he ever wrote to me, and I will cherish it forever,” shares Roe. Roe tends to buy her cards from the shop in the NHS Trust hospital where she works. “They have a really good selection of cards and it helps the League of Friends to raise money for the hospital,” she says.

Above: The special Simon Elvin card that has been passed between mother and son every year for three decades. Left: Roseleen Walsh with her son Jay and the 30 year old Christmas card.

While the practice has gone on for so many years, it was only a few months ago that Roe decided it was about time that Simon Elvin heard about this incredible story of one of his cards. Struck by how “the card has endured numerous house moves, the endless handling of children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren, it's a either a minor miracle or testament to the quality of your cards,” Roe told Simon, keen he knew about the important place the card had in her family life. “I thought you might like to know that you can certainly advertise durability on any future advertising campaigns!” she suggested.

As soon as he received Roe’s email, Simon responded saying how delighted he was to hear such a “positive story in the current gloomy climate”. Immediately recognising the design, Simon made contact with Kevin Shepherd, the artist who painted the original card. “Kevin is now producing fine-art prints, mainly of animals; not cats though!” Simon told Roe.

But the story does not end there, as unbeknownst to Roe, her son Jay also got in touch with Simon with an idea of a special Christmas present for his mum - a framed print of the card.

While Simon’s personal delve into the company’s archives to try and find the original design was not successful, he worked with Sarah Vockins, the publisher’s senior design manager to turn a photo of the original card into a print that was sent to Jay so that he could surprise his mum on Christmas Day, making for an emotional moment for both mother and son. Exclaiming her joy to Simon on Boxing Day, Roe wrote: “Well, you certainly know how to make someone's Christmas very, very special. I had no idea at all that Jay had been in touch with you and that our special Christmas card exchange would make anyone go to the extraordinary lengths you went to, to make Christmas 2021 so very memorable for us both. I want to thank you so much for the fantastic effort you and your team made to make this magic happen.” While clearly very touched that one of his cards has been a long running thread in a mother and son relationship for three decades, Simon joked that, businesswise, he hopes this practice does not become the norm. “I don’t think we will be encouraging the habit of re-posting cards for 30 years or we will be out of business in no time!” he quipped.

Left: Jay surprising his mum with a framed print of the card on Christmas Day. Below: The inside of the Code 100 card.

Down to a fine art

Kevin Shepherd is now widely revered for his fine art paintings of British wildlife that he paints in his studio gallery in Ferrers Centre for Arts and Crafts in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, yet he is equally proud of the countless greeting card designs he painted for Simon Elvin over many, many years, including the one that is pride of place in Roe Walsh’s family. “I started working with Simon only a few months after he started the business and continued until I set up my fine art studio nine years ago,” says Kevin, who in addition to creating his own designs was also art director of a team of artists in Simon Elvin’s Leicestershire design studio. “I have the utmost respect for Simon and loved creating all those thousands of greeting cards, often meeting him at 8pm at Toddington Services to pass over the next clutch of artworks, as well as enjoying the regular meetings we had at the offices in Bourne End to go through the pile of ideas I had for designs.” Kevin clearly remembers creating the specific pussycat and mouse design that has been part of Roe and Jay’s life. “Like all of my card designs, I created them by hand, for that one I used gouache and airbrushing. It was all about aiming for that classic ‘ahh factor’, which I sought to capture by depicting the cat’s eye slightly elevated and ensuring that the buyer/recipient immediately saw this at the same time of seeing the mouse,” says Kevin. Kevin feels that the many years he spent painting greeting cards has been invaluable in his current creative chapter of his fine art painting. “Creating cute greeting card designs was all about delivering the ‘ahh factor’ whereas my current mission as a fine art artist is about landing the ‘wow factor’. “’Ahh’ or ‘wow’ factor, it is the same principle. You need to grab the attention with your art, whether it is a greeting card in a card shop or a painting in an art gallery,” believes Kevin.