Great things often arrive in small packages – or plain white C4 envelopes in this case.
Imagine my delight when our postman delivered the mail this morning – it contained an unexpected plain C4 envelope containing a certificate to mark the completion of a 10k I (mostly) ran last week.
Which got me thinking about a few things:
- it’s good to show appreciation to organisations which in someway enrich our lives
- there is still value in printed, tangible communications
- it doesn’t have to take a grand gesture to delight your audience
This run was to support the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum. The Arboretum is a truly beautiful place, supported by many loyal volunteers – I’ve enjoyed many hours wandering around in the peace and tranquility of the beautifully kept trees and shrubs, and an evening run now too, so it made sense to give something back.
To receive a proper, printed certificate the following week that I could proudly show my husband as further proof of my achievement extended the experience. And the promise of tickets to a Christmas event at the Arboretum is potentially tying me in for more return visits. I’m liking them more and more. Clever.
I’d known that some sort of certificate was coming, but had assumed that this could be sent electronically. I hadn’t realised we would get additional goodies – on top of our medal and T-shirt on the day. I was just setting myself a challenge, set in a beautiful place.
The rest was unexpected – and I’m delighted.
