THERESE LAVERTON – YOUnited CARDS

Hello I’m Therese, Let me tell you why I’m creating multiracial and diverse greeting cards.

I’m 3/4 West African and 1/4 English. As a child my mum always made a big deal out of birthdays and she loved to buy myself, my brother and sister greetings cards that reflected our personalities. There would always be a little girl or boy doing something fun or looking cool.

The problem was, all the kids on the cards doing those great things were invariably Caucasian. However my Mum would always take a colouring pencil, crayon or felt tip and colour in the pictures so they looked like us.

Now I have my own family. My husband is Caucasian and my kids are of mixed race. It was when I met my husband, some years ago, that I first came up with the idea of racially diverse cards as I could never find anything suitable. Valentines, anniversary and birthday cards have still been a struggle to find when trying to buy a card where my kids can say, “Mummy, is that me?” and THIS is why I launched YOUnited Cards just over a year ago. I don’t want, “it’s the thought that counts” to be just something people say, I want everyone to feel thought of and represented when receiving a card from a loved one.

LET’S CELEBRATE DIVERSITY ON EVERY OCCASION