[press release] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Children’s Welfare Stamps 2024
Release date: 7 October 2024
Appearance: Sheet of 5 special stamps in 5 different designs, each with a value of 1 for mail weighing up to 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands, including a surcharge of €0.54 per stamp
Item Number: 441160
Design: Hallmark, Capelle aan den IJssel
On 7 October 2024, PostNL released a new sheet of Children’s Welfare Stamps. This year’s design features 5 stamps, 1 large and 4 smaller ones, celebrating 100 years of Children’s Welfare Stamps and the theme of resilience. The large stamp includes a QR code that allows the sender of a letter or card to send a personal video message to the recipient.
Since 1924, PostNL has issued Children’s Welfare Stamps to raise money for projects focused on the well-being of vulnerable children. This is done through a surcharge, currently set at €0.54 per stamp. The proceeds from all surcharges go to projects supported by the Children’s Welfare Stamps Foundation. This independent foundation 
works to provide equal development opportunities for children in the Netherlands and other countries. To support these efforts, the foundation organises the annual Children’s Welfare Stamp campaign, which has been part of the Netherlands’ Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2017. The price for a sheet of 5 stamps is €8.40, including surcharges.
From 25 September to 2 October 2024, over 125,000 pupils from years 7 and 8 will sell the Children’s Welfare Stamps door-to-door. From 3 October, PostNL will begin delivering the orders. In 2023, the Children’s Welfare Stamp campaign raised €9.6 million, nearly €0.6 million more than in 2022. The 2024 campaign theme is resilience. Hundreds of thousands of children in the Netherlands face poverty, loneliness, or problems at home, lacking the strong foundation needed to build resilience.
The Children’s Welfare Stamps Foundation is committed to supporting these children, offering them a safe foundation, support, and attention. According to the foundation, resilience is a superpower that can help in difficult situations. A safe base and loving attention contribute to making children more resilient. The foundation works with project partners to provide structural support to enhance the resilience of children facing difficulties. Schools are also provided with tools to incorporate this theme into the classroom during the school year.
During the centennial year, there will be various additional activities focusing on resilience, 
including a special TV commercial, a Superpower Day in collaboration with the KPN Mooiste Contact Fonds, a special campaign song with Kinderen voor Kinderen, and other activities.
In 1924, a royal decree established that the state could issue stamps with a surcharge “for disadvantaged children.” The Children’s Welfare Stamps were born. Over the past 100 years, the stamps have evolved with societal changes, and their designs reflect the spirit of the times, from the stylised child’s head between angel figures in the first design in 1924 to the cheerful typographic and symbolic stamps of 2024. Initially, only volunteer committees sold the stamps.
In 1948, a teacher’s idea led to a trial where primary school students sold the stamps, 
which was so successful that it became a nationwide practice in 1949. Thus, the Children’s Welfare Stamp campaign began, as it is still known today. From 1948, the campaign was organised by the Stichting voor het Kind, and the proceeds were distributed by the Nationaal Comité voor de Kinderpostzegels. In 1989, these two organisations merged into the current Children’s Welfare Stamps Foundation. Many generations of Dutch people have fond memories of selling the stamps door-to-door with their classmates. Every year, over 3,000 schools and 125,000 children participate. Over the years, special Children’s Welfare Stamps have been created, such as the 1972 issue featuring photos of Prince Claus’s 
three sons and the 2012 issue with photos of Prince Willem-Alexander’s three daughters. Other issues have featured illustrations by renowned Dutch illustrators such as Dick Bruna (1969 and 2005), Max Velthuijs (1998), and Fiep Westendorp (2016).
Sofie Vriends, Director of the Children’s Welfare Stamps Foundation: “We are celebrating 100 years, and that calls for a special jubilee stamp. This year, it was important to find the right balance between a campaign that emphasises the strength of children and the severity of the problems some children face. Currently, more than 230,000 children in the Netherlands live below the poverty line. Together with everyone in the Netherlands, we want to strengthen children’s resilience. Resilience is a superpower in your mind and heart that helps you cope with difficult situations. Together with PostNL, we have worked to translate this into special stamps that focus on ‘giving superpower’.”
The 2024 Children’s Welfare Stamps were designed by Hallmark. “Our designer was guided by the theme cards we created for the Children’s Welfare Stamp campaign, which starts at the end of September,” says Jan Willem Koch, Managing Director of Hallmark Europe. “Elements from the theme cards are reflected in the stamp design.”
The price for a sheet of 5 stamps is €8.40, including a surcharge of €0.54 per stamp.
Technical Data:
Stamp size: 4 stamps of 36 x 25 mm and 1 stamp of 36 x 50 mm
Sheet size: 144 x 75 mm
Paper: Normal with phosphor print
Gumming: Synthetic
Printing technique: Offset
Printing colours: Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black
Circulation: 1,350,000 sheets
Appearance: Sheet of 5 stamps in 5 different designs
Design/illustrations: Hallmark Cards Netherlands, Capelle aan den Ijssel
Printing by: Royal Joh. Enschedé B.V., Haarlem
Item Number: 441160
