Why 2025 should be the year you write more letters

The vital importance of The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society

It’s amazing how many people around the world you can reach from a B&Q summerhouse. Dinah Johnson (no relation) runs The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society which now brings together nearly 1,500 members from 36 countries.

“I’ve always loved writing letters and felt increasingly sad that letter writing had dropped off the radar, and so many people were missing out on the joy of them,” Dinah told me, explaining that she established the society in 2017 to encourage people to engage with the somewhat lost art of sending handwritten letters. “It’s the little piece of you in pen and paper format that has travelled actual physical miles that make them so appealing. I felt like we were lacking the intimacy you get from communicating just one-to-one, rather than making our friends an audience on social media.”

So, inspired by the Cloud Appreciation Society, she decided to set up something similar for fellow enthusiasts of old media correspondence techniques.

The summerhouse [pictured below] is now into its third decade of use. Formerly it was a home to bicycles and lawnmowers, then – lined with plywood and with a carpet put down – it became a general family hangout. But when Dinah founded the HLAS, she requisitioned it as her HQ from which she now organises events and campaigns, especially important at a time when there are proposals afoot to reduce the number of delivery days.

“It faces north and is painted a ‘medium oak colour and has recently been re-roofed and clad because it was starting to rot quite badly. We’d discussed replacing it and maybe getting a slightly bigger one to store the growing collection of letters, but it would’ve been like selling a friend,” she says.

“The door-hinge still needs mending and the gutters putting up but hopefully if not completely airtight it’s much improved. I love the front with the two doors and the eight little windows and the angle of the roof. I love the position of my writing desk tucked just round the corner by the windows so I can watch the garden goings on, like a blackbird washing in the birdbath and the gradual changing of the seasons, when I look up from my bureau. I’m not too keen on the fusty shed smell it leaves on me but that has a charm all of its own and will certainly bring back memories of me “up the shed” in years to come for the kids. I love all the postal paraphernalia I’ve managed to cram into it including an ever growing postbox shrine [pictured top].”

For somebody whose life revolves around letters, I’m intrigued by her reaction to my question about which are her favourite letters and letter writers.

“I might be on my own here,” she says, “but I honestly don’t really like reading other people’s letters. It feels like a betrayal to the person who wrote it, even if they’re long dead, and like I’ve barged in on a conversation I wasn’t included in. I have lots of books of letters written by other people as I’m happy to support interest in handwritten letters, but I never read them. Maybe to read old letters is one thing, to publish them is another. I do ponder the act of reading other people’s letters quite a lot. It feels a bit nosy and they weren't to me. It makes me a bit uncomfortable.”

Running the society takes up a lot of Dinah’s time. She prefers to describe it as a passion project than a hobby. “Hobby makes it sound too cutesy, and maybe letter writing is to some extent, but it is so much more than that as well as anyone who has ever written a letter will testify.”

The shed has served her well, but what are Dinah’s plans for its future? “To try and keep it tidy,” she admits. “To keep patching it up. I don’t think I’ll upgrade it now. Don’t tell anyone but I do have my eye on the shed that is behind it, or at least the space it sits in for a state of the art shed to house the start of The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society Museum & Discovery Centre archive…”

Dinah’s letterwriting tips

· Just try sending a letter, even if it’s only the once. I guarantee the recipient will love it whatever pen, paper, and handwriting it comes in.

· Posh pens and fancy stationery are a real treat to use, and are very motivational for writing letters

· Try not to make your letter a travel log or journal - remember to ask a few questions and really picture the person you’re writing to.

· It’s not a formal letter so write as you would talk. If you change your mind halfway through a sentence, cross it out and carry on. I find that sort of detail intriguing and lovely.

· Try not to expect a reply when you send a letter, as much as we all hope for one.

· And if a blank piece of paper feels too daunting, start with a postcard.

Find out more about the Society at www.thehandwrittenletterappreciationsociety.org