Richards said he had a standard, polite letter that explained the basic rules for apostrophe use, which he sent to supporters to forward to offending businesses and other organisations.
[12] Other complaints involved the renaming of Dundee Council's Children and Families' Service to remove the apostrophe, and a temporary road sign in Hartlepool that read "Parking Bay's Suspended".
[13][14] In 2001, Richards won the satiric Ig Nobel Prize for "his efforts to protect, promote, and defend the differences between plural and possessive".
[15] In December 2019, when Richards was 95, he announced that the society was shutting down, saying that, despite its efforts, "fewer organisations and individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe".
The society produces a regular newsletter[23] for its members, with a general update from its chair on apostrophe-related news and current campaigns.