In 1959, James “Jim” Jackson, Secretary of the British Diabetic Association, gathered a group of medical charities together to discuss the coordination of publicity for selling charity cards at Christmas. In 1964, they began selling cards from empty shops in town centres. The name “Cards for Good Causes” was first mooted in 1971, but it was not until 1988 that it was formally established as the trading arm of The 1959 Group of Charities.