Stamps - they appear on envelopes everyday, yet we hardly give them a second thought. It is in fact the case that they can be collected and traded in for cash for charities, such as the JCI Reading 2012 charity, Guide Dogs for the Blind.

With Christmas post, there's been many more stamps to collect and my box of stamps is looking healthy, having received at least a couple of envelopes a day! It takes me little or no time to carefully tear off the stamp, leaving a border of paper and they take very little space to store - keeping them in an envelope is perfect! Contact me clare.f@jcireading.co.uk to arrange handover of your stamps throughout 2012.

I've even asked my family, friends and even my work colleagues to collect their stamps for me. Remember too that organisations receive post too - set up a box where the post is opened for stamps to be saved and make it known to colleagues they can add their own to the collection.

All stamps can be collected as all are valuable. Do keep your eyes open for all foreign and UK pictorial stamps which are of particular value and attract extra funds for charity.

Happy collecting! 

From Clare Franklin