Kind Regards runs on handwriting and goodwill. Pen pals write the letters. Readers make sure every envelope is kind and safe. Hosts put the kettle on for letter afternoons, and makers keep us stocked with cards. You do not need beautiful handwriting, perfect spelling or a lot of free time. You need to be kind, reliable and happy to follow a few careful rules about how post is handled. Choose a role below, then tell us a little about yourself. A coordinator will reply with next steps, training dates and the background checks the role requires.

VOLUNTEER WITH US

“I thought I was giving an hour a month. I got a friend.”

Pick up a pen. We’ll bring the stamps.

An older woman writing at a round wooden table beneath a warm hanging lamp

Find your role in the post room.

Six ways to help, from one letter a month to one afternoon a term.

Pen pal

Write one letter a month to someone matched with care. Training takes about an hour.

Hands sliding a letter into a pale envelope beside a round glass table

Post reader

Read letters at our office before they travel. Thoughtful, quiet and essential.

An older woman reading papers at a desk beside a vintage typewriter in a book-lined room

Afternoon host

Welcome writers to a letter afternoon at a library, school or care home.

An older woman and a young woman talking over cups of tea at a wooden table

Card maker

Make blank cards at home for writers who like something to decorate.

Children drawing and making crafts around a low table in a bright classroom

School partner

Bring Kind Regards to your class and write to a care home nearby.

A boy writing in a notebook at a wooden desk beside a stack of books

Stamp sorter

Count, sort and pack stamps and envelopes. Ideal for a rainy afternoon.

Two airmail envelopes with red and blue striped edges on a white background

The people behind the post.

Kind Regards is imagined as a small team of staff and a much larger team of volunteers. Names and roles are fictional; photographs are illustrative.

Ada Okafor

Programme coordinator

Ada reads every new form and makes the matches. Her list of shared interests currently includes beekeeping, Bollywood and bus routes.

A smiling young woman with long dark hair beside a bright window

Ruth Pemberton

Volunteer post reader

Ruth spent thirty years as a librarian and now reads the post on Tuesdays. She is very good at spotting a letter that needs a second look.

A smiling older woman in a cream turtleneck jumper

Tomás Reyes

Schools partnerships

Tomás connects classrooms with care homes and turns up to every school visit with spare pens, just in case.

A smiling man in a patterned sweater beside a bright window

Walter Hughes

Pen pal and afternoon host

Walter has written to four pen pals so far and hosts the card circle at his local library, where he is in charge of biscuits.

A smiling older man with a grey beard in a blue T-shirt

Letters arrive

Post from pen pals lands at our office. Every envelope is logged by first name only.

A red post box set into a dark green hedge

Reading day

Two volunteers read each letter, check it against our guidelines and note anything for the coordinator.

Hands holding a handwritten letter above pale bed linen

Post day

Letters get a fresh envelope, a stamp and a short note from us, then go back out into the world.

Write back

Pen pals have a few weeks to reply. No rush, no word count and no wrong answers.

An older woman writing at a table by a window full of houseplants, a cup of tea beside her

Tell us which role appeals and how you would like to be contacted. A coordinator will reply with the next steps. This sample form belongs to a fictional charity. Please do not share health details, home addresses or other sensitive information here.

Register your interest.

Your first name

Your email

Which role interests you?

Send my details

Before you sign up.

Straight answers to the questions most volunteers ask first.

Not at all. Readable is plenty. If writing by hand is difficult, a real programme could accept typed letters printed at home or dictated to a volunteer.

Do I need good handwriting?

A pen pal letter takes most people under an hour a month. Readers and hosts usually give a couple of hours a term.

How much time does it take?

You can tell us what you enjoy and who you would like to write to. The coordinator makes the final match so that every pairing is safe and well suited.

Can I choose who I write to?

It happens, and it is nobody’s fault. Let us know and we will close the pairing kindly, then offer a new match if you would like one.

What if we do not get on?

No. Kind Regards is a fictional charity created for a website template. The roles, people and processes show how a real organisation could present its work.