SUNDAY PALS

When we started The Sunday Letter Project, we began to receive the same, regular question: ‘can we find a penpal from within the project?’.

After being initially cautious about encouraging our members to exchange home addresses with strangers, we came up with an idea. If we are able to create a network of independent stationery, book and gift shops or cafes who are willing to act as ‘letter holders’, then we could create a penpal network without people needing to exchange personal addresses at all.

People could write ‘shop to shop’, with their letters held safely until collection — a modern twist on the old Poste Restante system.

Each participating shop would act as a letter holder, keeping letters safe until they were collected by the intended recipient. You could post a letter to someone through any shop in the network, and they could collect it from their local one.

How it works

  • Find your nearest participating shop on our Sunday Pals map, or request that your favourite local independent shop or cafe join the network.

  • Send your intro letter to any shop from the network with some information about who you are and what you want to get from joining the project. Remember to include your local shop address on the back of your envelope.

  • Wait for a kindred letter pal to read your letter and hopefully reply to your local shop.

  • The shop will hold it until you’re able to collect it.

Who can join?

Anyone who’s part of The Sunday Letter Project. Your intro letter will join a ‘pool’ of letters at each participating shop. People visiting the shop will be able to browse the letters and reply to any that they ‘connect’ with.

Are there any rules?

Yes, just a few — enough to keep everyone safe and the experience kind.

  • Don’t include personal details like your home address, phone number, or social media handles. All contact stays through the Sunday Pals network.

  • Keep your letters kind and respectful. Sunday Pals is about connection, not debate or persuasion.

  • No sales, promotions, or self-advertising of any kind.

  • Shops can refuse to hold or deliver any letter that feels unsafe or inappropriate.

  • If you want to stop writing or take a break, just let your shop know — no awkwardness required.

Sign up to be a Letter-Keeper.

If you would like to add your independent shop, cafe, gallery or library to our global network of letter-keepers, please add your email address and a short amount of information about your shop here.