1 Letter 1 Smile (1 Lettre 1 Sourire) allows everyone to write letters to isolated older people in just a few clicks and free of charge. This objective of the platform to break older people's loneliness and bring them some joy through letters sent by strangers.
This project was launched in France at the beginning of the lockdown period in March 2020. It has been conceived and developed by 10 French cousins aged between 15 and 25 years old.
So far, 800,000 letters from 143 countries have already been sent to 1,400 partner care homes - mainly in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, as well as to the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
How to proceed?
The process is simple for both those writing the letters and those receiving them. To write a letter, you simply have to:
- go to the website: 1lettre1sourire.org
- click on “write a letter”
- write a few kind words, add a picture
That’s it... and you have brightened someone’s day up!
Nursing homes and retirement centres can register to receive letters on the same website. The letters are sent by email to avoid any sorts of mailing complications and, considering the current health crisis.
Finally, the nursing homes simply have to print the letters - a process that the charity offers to reimburse - and distribute them to their residents.
