New Issues
New Paralympic stamps revealed by Royal Mail
The Royal Mail has today announced plans to issue an extra set of stamps to mark the 2012 Paralympic Games.
The set of four stamps will feature the Paralympic sports of wheelchair basketball, cycling, powerlifting and athletics alongside famous London landmarks such as St Paul’s Cathedral. They will go on sale on 29th August to coincide with the start of the games in London, Royal Mail confirmed today.
A selection of the stamps issued by Royal Mail to mark each gold medal victory at London 2012.
This new set is in addition to the stamps already announced by Royal Mail to mark each Paralympic gold medal. During London 2012, the Royal Mail issued a new stamp to mark each of the twenty-nine gold medals won by Team GB.
Post boxes have been painted gold in the home town of each gold medal winning London 2012 athlete.
Similarly, the Royal Mail will also paint the post box gold in each home town of a gold medal winning Paralympian, just as it did for London 2012.
“We hope these stamps will help get the nation excited about the Paralympic Games and encourage the public to support Paralympics GB when it’s our turn to compete against the best in the world,” says Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association.
The Paralympics have grown significantly since the first games in Rome in 1960 when just 400 athletes from 23 countries participated in wheelchair sports only. This year, London will play host to over 4,200 Paralympians from around 150 countries who will take part in a total of 20 sports. These range from popular disciplines such as athletics, sailing and rowing to the less well-known boccia and goalball.
As the athletes start to arrive in the Capital to complete their preparation, the Paralympic torch began its week-long journey on Wednesday 22nd August. This will culminate in a 24-hour relay from Stoke Mandeville, the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, to the Olympic Stadium, the site of the Opening Ceremony.
At the Paralympics in Beijing in 2008, the British team won 42 gold medals. The games run until 9th September.
Royal Mail to salute gold medal winners with unique stamp issue
Within hours of a British gold medal winning performance at London 2012, Royal Mail will set about producing an exclusive Team GB issue to mark their sporting triumph. Here’s how they’ll produce Britain’s first ever ‘next day’ stamps this summer …
Printing
Each Team GB Gold Medal Stamp issue will feature a Miniature Sheet of six stamps. To save time, sheets will be pre-printed in gold with common details such as the 1st Class value, the Queen’s head and the official London 2012 logo. The Team GB emblem and the title ‘London 2012 Olympic Games’ will also be printed in advance.
Design
Working alongside Getty Images, the Games’ Official Photographic Agency, Royal Mail will receive a selection of images featuring the winning team or athlete as soon as possible after their win. Designers will have just one hour to choose the best action shot to fit the template and complete the artwork.
On receipt of the artwork from Royal Mail, six regional printers will then digitally overprint the athlete’s image, name and the winning event.
Distribution
The finished sheets will be collected from the printers and delivered to 500 Post Office branches across the UK for sale the morning after the gold medal win. They range from Aberdeen to Bournemouth, Belfast to Cardiff and include a large number in London.
“All of these branches will be open on Sundays, many for the first time, during the Games to allow customers to buy the stamps as soon as they become available,” Royal Mail spokesperson. Another 4,500 Post Offices will receive the Gold Medal Stamps within the following week.
Royal Mail’s ‘Welcome’ Mini Sheets
To coincide with the opening of London 2012 on 27th July and the Paralympic Games on 29th August, Royal Mail will also issue two special miniature sheets. The four stamps on each sheet portray powerful images of athletes in action alongside an iconic London landmark such as the London Eye or Tower Bridge. There are
two 1st class stamps and two £1.28 stamps per mini-sheet. This is the first time a postal administration has issued a miniature sheet to mark the opening of the Paralympic Games.
Royal Mail released its first Olympic stamps in 1948, when the Games were held in London for the second time (first held in 1908). However, this will be the first time ever it has issued stamps to celebrate gold medal winners.