After the poet joined others voicing dismay at Christmas card ‘punching down’ at children in care, the stationery chain has apologised and withdrawn it
Paperchase has removed a card that mocked foster children from sale after the award-winning poet Lemn Sissay accused the chain of “punching down” and treating children in care as the butt of a joke.
The card, which depicts a mother on the phone near a child who has spilt some milk, saying “Is this the orphanage? Right, I want a f*cking refund …”, was first highlighted on Tuesday by Sophia Alexandra Hall, a care leaver who wrote of her journey to Oxford University in the Guardian. “Me: minding my business in a shop looking for Christmas cards,” Hall wrote on Twitter. “Shop: Merry Christmas here’s an orphan joke.”
