Love letters are better than chocolate

Jilly Cooper and the ‘Get On’ campaign urge men to brush up their writing skills to deliver a priceless handwritten gift this Valentine’s Day

Love letters are more sought after than presents this Valentine’s Day, according to new research from the Get On campaign. The research, carried out amongst 2,000 women across the country, reveals that 2 in 5 women (41%) would prefer a heart-felt love letter to the usual Valentine’s Day presents such as chocolates or underwear.

The Get On campaign, which encourages adults to improve their English and maths skills, also found that that writing love letters seems to be a forgotten art:

• One in five (19%) women confess they have never received a love letter from a loved one or an admirer. 
• A mere 2% have received a love letter in the last week.
• Only 3% had received one in the last month.
• And almost half (44%) of the women surveyed said it had been more than a decade since they last received a love letter.

Jilly Cooper, the romantic novelist, said: “After my first date with my husband Leo, nearly forty five years ago, he sent me a love letter saying he couldn’t wait to seem me again.  I was totally bowled over that this cool, hunky, darkly handsome, incredibly witty rugby player [could] also express his feelings so enchantingly. 

“I’m convinced women everywhere feel exactly the same way.  So come, boys, get your pens out.  All you need say to your sweet wife or partner is, ‘You’re the best in the world and I love you.’  Or if you’re too shy to let a woman know that you fancy her, just write telling her she’s fabulous and asking her to be your Valentine. 

“I know many men feel it’s soppy and wimpish to show their feelings, but writing a love letter is such a great way of making your partner feel special.  If you’re nervous (as I am every day) that my literary skills aren’t up to it, give the Get On campaign a call on 0800 100 900 to find out about free courses to get your writing skills up to scratch so you can deliver a letter straight from the heart.”* (Please see notes to editors for full Jilly Cooper quote).

The findings also reveal that high-tech methods of communication are not good enough for today’s modern women – a staggering three quarters (77%) said they would prefer a handwritten love letter to a love text or email. The younger generation are particularly tired of text and email with 85% of 18-29 year olds preferring a letter.

When asked which celebrity they would most like to receive a love letter from, the women surveyed put Johnny Depp at the top of their list:

• Johnny got 12% of the vote with Brad Pitt coming a close second with 9% of women agreeing they would like a love letter from the movie star. 
• Votes for Colin Firth outnumbered those for Jude Law 8:1 
• Sean Connery left the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, standing with 7% of the vote, compared to no votes at all. 
• When it comes to the kitchen, Gordon Ramsay is the way to a woman’s heart with more than twice as many votes as Jamie Oliver.

In response to the findings, the Get On campaign is urging the country’s men to brush up their writing skills in time for Valentine’s Day so they can put pen to paper and create their own romantic masterpiece.

About the Get On campaign

Millions of people around the UK struggle with reading, writing and maths skills. But help is at hand with free courses on offer for adults wanting to brush up on their reading and maths skills.  The courses, which offer an entirely different experience from people’s school days, focus on helping adults improve their skills so they can deal with practical, everyday situations in life and work.  As an added incentive the courses can also lead to a nationally recognised qualification.

The Get On campaign is part of the Government’s Skills for Life strategy, which aims to help 2.25 million learners gain a qualification by 2010.  The campaign, featuring the now-famous gremlin character, was launched in 2001 to specifically target the millions of people with literacy, numeracy and language needs.

For further information or gremlin imagery please call the Get On campaign office on 020 7544 3130 or email Sarah Schofield, Vanessa Montero or Jenna Frost.

Notes to editors: 

*Full quote from Jilly Cooper:

“After my first date with my husband Leo, nearly forty five years ago, he sent me a love letter saying he couldn’t wait to see me again and quoting one of England’s greatest poets, John Donne ‘I am two fools, I know, for loving and for saying so in whining poetry.’

“I was totally bowled over that this cool, hunky, darkly handsome, incredibly witty rugby player should also have the soul of a poet and be able to express his feelings so enchantingly.  We will have been married forty five years in October.

“I’m convinced women everywhere feel exactly the same way.  Recent research has shown that an incredible 41% of them would rather have a love letter than flowers or chocolates on Valentine’s Day.  71% on the other hand, confessed they would be flabbergasted to receive such a token – presumably because they don’t believe the man in their life is capable of such romance. 

“So come, boys, get your pens out.  All you need say to your sweet wife or partner is, ‘You’re the best in the world and I love you.’  Or if you’re too shy to let a woman know that you fancy her, just write telling her she’s fabulous and asking her to be your Valentine. 

“I know many men feel it’s soppy and wimpish to show their feelings, but writing a love letter is such a great way of making your partner feel special.  If you’re nervous (as I am every day) that my literary skills aren’t up to it, give the Get On campaign a call on 0800 100 900 to find out about free courses to get your writing skills up to scratch so you can deliver a letter straight from the heart.

“Never forget that flowers fade, chocolates get eaten in a trice but a love letter lasts forever.  So celebrate Valentine’s Day everywhere, lads, by dropping both your guard and a line to your favourite woman.”

1.       Research methodology: The research was carried out by YouGov between 29 November and 1 December 2005. 2,000 women were surveyed, aged 18 and above. 

2.       The Prime Minister launched the Skills for Life Strategy in 2001 to tackle the legacy of adults with poor literacy, language and numeracy skills within England.   The Strategy aims to help create a society where adults have the basic skills they need to find and keep work and participate fully in society, through:

Ø        Boosting demand for learning

Ø        Ensuring capacity of the learning provider delivery system

Ø        Improving standards of teaching and learning

Ø        Increasing learner achievement

3.       The Get On Campaign is part of the Skills for Life Strategy for improving adult literacy, language (ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages) and numeracy skills, in order to boost the demand for literacy, language and numeracy learning.

4.       The Skills for Life National Needs and Impact Survey of Literacy, Numeracy and IT skills, published in October 2003, estimated that in England, 5.2 million adults aged 16-55 have literacy levels below Level 1 (the level of skills required to achieve a GCSE at grades D – E), and 14.9 million have numeracy skills below this level.

5.       Government has committed to improving the literacy and numeracy skills of 2.25 million adults by 2010, with an interim target of 1.5 million by 2007.  The government is on track to meet the target, having achieved the milestone to help 750,000 adults to achieve their first literacy, language or numeracy qualification by 2004.