SCHOOLS in South Somerset joined World Postcard Day by sending cards to pupils across Europe.

Students from Redstart Primary School and Manor Court School reached overseas schools by sending postcards to mark the occasion earlier this month, on October 1.

Sixty children from Redstart Primary School took part and sent postcards to a school in Cologne, Germany, and to another one in Segovia, Spain and they were very excited to receive their replies last week. Manor Court School in Chard also took part and was paired with schools in Nowa Ruda in Poland and Secovce in Slovakia.

This exchange of postcards may lead to continuing exchanges of cards and letters throughout the year.

Chard, Crewkerne, and Ilminster Libraries also held postcard workshops in their libraries where children came in, chose a card and wrote messages, decorated their postcards, and the librarians sent them all together to libraries scattered around the UK such as The Isle of Man, The Orkneys, and the Scilly Isles. They are all eagerly awaiting their replies now.

The project was masterminded by the Rainbows Penpal Club of Ilminster in conjunction with the International Postcrossing Organisation which estimated that around a million postcards were sent around the world on or around October 1 in 168 countries.