‘We started writing letters to stop doomscrolling – now it’s a global movement’

A stationery shop owner misses the childhood thrill of getting correspondence in the post – so she’s brought back the lost art of letter writing and started a global movement.

Rebecca Maguire’s great-uncle Colin used to send her sketches and art materials through the mail, and it brought her great joy.

But recently people started asking her: why does nobody send letters anymore?

When 35-year-old Rebecca and husband Karl, 39, opened stationery shop Wildflower Illustration Co in their hometown of Cheltenham, customers repeatedly asked her what had happened to the lost art of letter-writing.

‘People were mourning the fact that as a society we have stopped doing that as a regular practice. A lot of people thought if they suddenly wrote someone a letter out of the blue, they might think they were dying, or something weird was going on,’ says Rebecca.

‘So we decided to start writing letters ourselves.’

Every Sunday afternoon, Rebecca, Karl and daughter Alba, now seven, would sit down and write to their loved ones despite the fact that she was busy with new baby Edie and running the business.

‘We made a promise to ourselves that we would do it. Then it became a practice and we really enjoyed it as a family. So in October last year, we launched the http://www.thesundayletterproject.com,’ says Rebecca.

The free project invites people to pledge to spending a little time each Sunday writing to loved ones, and within a few weeks more than 1,000 people had signed up.

So then Rebecca set up a pen pals project where people could write letters to strangers via one of 200 stationery shops and bookstores across the world.

‘It just caught people’s imaginations. People were getting fed up of the internet, and doom-scrolling, and everything being online, and feeling like they don’t have any physical memories to hold any more,’ she says.

Writing letters can provide people with an alternative to being sucked into their phones, Rebecca says, as a landmark study found that people in the UK spend an average of 4.7 years of their lives doomscrolling.

Rebecca’s movement went viral with one Instagram post from @‌thesundayletterproject, getting one million views. Now, with 12,000 members writing 52 times a year, three million letters will be sent over the next five years.

‘It has really captured people’s imagination,’ says Rebecca.

‘Now people can go into some really cool shops across the world and help themselves from a basket of letters that are called introductory letters and they can write back.’

She also works with charities, setting up letter writers to the lonely and isolated, and those undergoing treatment for cancer.

‘I’ve just always loved letters. I know from my own experience that there is something really special about a letter. It seems to freeze time and handwriting captures the essence of a person. In a digital world, those experiences are so thin on the ground, so it’s great to forge that connection through pen and paper.’

Rebecca argues that it’s a deeply relaxing practice that helps you slow down and live more intentionally.

‘There is also lots of evidence now that writing by hand is good for you and that there are many benefits from putting pen to paper. People spend so long on screens, which is low effort and high reward, that it makes things in real life seem harder than they are,’ she says.

‘But the unique thing about this is that paper makes us feel good. You choose nice paper and stickers and then you are doing something with your hands in the real world. You are creating something and that produces a sense of accomplishment. It may only be a small thing but it feels like a real achievement.’

Rebecca, who now has her own pen pal in California, says it provides a healthy alternative to the dizzying march of AI and helps people develop their critical thinking skills during a time of great flux.

‘I loved getting letters as a child. Nowadays, it’s just bills and online shopping, which is just empty dopamine. It seems really sad that there is a whole generation of children who don’t experience that joy,’ she says.

‘If you are thinking of writing a letter or joining up, I would encourage you to give it a go. Most people who have tried the Sunday Letter Project absolutely loved the experience. It is lovely to carve out a bit of time for yourself and engage in an activity that makes you feel really good.’