Royal Mail is bracing itself for the “greatest challenge in stamp production ever” as it gears up to produce gold medal stamps for every British Paralympic winner, with up to 50 individual stamps set to be produced over the next 11 days.
The move follows a U-turn on the postal operator’s original decision to just print a set of six stamps to cover the whole event, and was sparked by pressure from the general public, disabled campaigners and politicians.
British Paralympians won 42 golds in Bejing and most commentators expect the medal haul to be even greater this time round.
It will be the first time ever any host country has issued gold medal stamps for their Paralympic winners since the movement was founded in 1948 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital by Dr Ludwig Guttmann. A postbox in each gold medallist’s home town will also be painted gold, as with members of Team GB.
Royal Mail Stamps managing director Andrew Hammond said it was the “right thing” to do, claiming it would be “greatest logistical challenge in stamps production ever undertaken” by any postal administration.
He added: “Just as our Olympians outperformed expectations, we are confident that our Paralympians will also outperform. That would see us issuing many more individual stamps than the 29 printed over the London 2012 Olympics fortnight,” he said. “This is a huge logistical challenge and we will get the gold medal stamps for sale as quickly as possible to a network of Post Office branches around the country.”
After the company’s change of heart, shadow Olympics minister Tessa Jowell – a fierce critic of the original plan – said: “Royal Mail should be congratulated for making the right decision on this. The stamps for Team GB’s gold medallists have been such an emblematic part of our celebrations during the Games. I am delighted that our Paralympic heroes will be given the same honour.”
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