London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

Best friends have sent each other the same Christmas card for 50 years

Best friends have sent each other the same Christmas card for 50 years

Two best friends have been sending each other the same Christmas card back and forth for more than 50 years.

Alan Braithwaite, 73, first sent Christopher Oakley, also 73, the Oxfam card with Three Wise Men on the front in 1969.

It was returned a year later with the message ‘sorry I’m a bit late’, kick-starting a tradition which has now lasted a half century.

The pair, who met in the early 1960s at a Young Farmers Club, have taken it in turns to share custody of the card for the year and then send it back with a quick update on their lives when Christmas comes around again.

Alan, a retired agricultural contractor, said receiving the card from his old friend always brings a smile to his face.

Speaking from his home near Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the pensioner said: ‘It’s a tradition. It keeps going back and forth.

‘We’ve got to the stage in the last ten years where we deliver it by hand because we don’t want it to get damaged in the post.

‘People think we’re tight or doing it to save money but it’s all in good humour.


The 50 year old Oxfam Christmas Card


L- R Alan Braithwaite, 72, with Christopher Oakley, 72, Kidderminster, Worcester


‘I remember the first time I sent it back to Christopher, I wrote a message saying “sorry I’m a bit late”. It started as a joke really but we value it more than ever now.’

While the pair insist they aren’t Scrooges, they reckon they’ve saved thousands over the years by sending the same card. They’ve not missed a year yet.

After four decades of sending it by post, Alan and Christopher didn’t want to risk damaging their keepsake so have spent the last ten years delivering it to each other by hand.

As they enter their 51st year of sending each other the card, Christopher decided to place it in a special wooden frame to protect it from the elements.

The grandfather-of-three, now retired after working in the timber trade, said: ‘Friendship is important, especially in these difficult times. It is difficult keeping in touch these days so this is nice.


Alan writes his message to Christopher this year and writes; ‘2020 – Hope we can be COVID free’


‘We don’t know whether it’s a great idea or if we’re being cheapskates.

‘People always say how brilliant an idea it is. There’s so much bad news in the world it’s nice to mark our friendship in this sort of way each year.

‘We’ve known each other for 60 years and the card means something to us and seals what’s happened in the year, it documents what’s been or good bad.

‘I’d love it if someone out there wanted to do the same sort of thing.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
×