All Saints be praised

By TOBY WALNE, CHIEF MONEY REPORTER
Updated:

 

THE Save Our Post Offices campaign launched by Financial Mail on Sunday four years ago has been an uphill battle.

Rev Annette Reed

Three thousand have closed since early 2002, largely as a result of the scrapping of old-style benefits books and an urban closure programme. But this number will pale into insignificance compared with the avalanche of closures in coming years as the Government withdraws its £150m annual subsidy to rural branches.

And the withdrawal of the Post Office card account, confirmed this month, will also hit hard. The four million people who use the account to obtain cash will be forced to have their benefits paid direct into bank accounts.

Financial Mail visited three rural post offices to gauge villagers' reactions to the Government's decision:

Sheepy Magna, Leicestershire

DEEP in the heart of the Leicestershire countryside lies the village of Sheepy Magna, close to the site where the Battle of Bosworth was fought more than five centuries ago. At its heart is All Saints Church, which serves the 600 villagers as well as the nearby hamlets of Sheepy Parva, Cross Hands, The Mythe and Pinwall.

But this is no ordinary church. Sitting in the vestry is sub-postmistress Amanda Boyt, 41, who is busy serving a cheerful queue of customers from behind her booth. Amanda runs the post office at nearby Ratcliffe Culey, but two mornings a week she provides a mobile post office service to Sheepy Magna.

Her service is appreciated because three years ago the post office in nearby Sheepy Parva closed. The vicar, the Rev Annette Reed, 51, recalls: 'Straightaway, I thought about providing a mobile service in the church. Many parishioners thought it was a crazy idea, but they were willing to try anything and it's been a real success. Not only do we have a post office, but it reinforces the church at the heart of the community where it belongs - we even get more visitors on a Sunday.'

All Saints Church

But the vicar admits turning the idea into reality was not plain sailing. Cash had to be squeezed from district and borough councils. The mobile post office also requires commitment from villagers, who help Amanda to set up shop. The church also lays on tea and biscuits.

Jan Jones, 64, whose husband Neil is a church warden, says: 'We have lost about ten post offices in the immediate vicinity in recent years. I see the post office as far more than just a place to obtain benefits and stamps. It is the hub of Sheepy Magna. Without it, the elderly and disabled would feel abandoned. Surely this is something no society should allow.'

Newtown Linford, Leicestershire

THE post office in this village on the edge of the ancient deer park of Bradgate is in a 16th Century oak-panelled cottage and most customers must bend to avoid the low beams. Sub-postmistress Helen King, 39, recently installed a snack bar to lure more customers.

Helen fears that the move to scrap the card account in 2010 will harm not just her business but be a disaster for many elderly villagers. 'Forcing people to have benefits paid direct into a bank account, which the removal of the card account will do, is wrong,' she says.

Mathematician Glenis Meredith, 60, visiting the branch with her dog Roxey, says: 'You cannot put a price on the value to a community of having a post office. Shortterm savings made by cutting services create a long-term social disaster.'

Glenis tries to make the most of her post office by using it for basic banking with her Co-operative Bank account. She believes everyone should take advantage of this service and those who receive benefits direct into a bank account should take them out at the post office if possible.

Exton, Rutland

EXTON lies in a beautiful rural setting a couple of miles north of Rutland Water. There are no shops in the village, just the post office and a pub on the green.

Acting sub-postmaster David Ketley, 67, says: 'We're the only port of call for many people. Banks and big post offices can be intimidating for the elderly. We spend time with people to make sure everything is fine.' As part of his service, the post office can hand benefits to friends and family using the card account on behalf of others too ill or disabled to visit.

Artist Fay Howison says: 'The Post Office seems to look at the price of everything and the value of nothing.'

HALF OF ALL BRANCHES FACE THE AXE

POST Office Ltd admits the outlook for nearly half the surviving 14,500 branches is bleak. As many as one in two could be shut down over the next five years, according to its own projections. About 6,500 post offices in rural areas do not make money for the Post Office and are most at risk.

A spokesman says: 'There is a real fear among post offices that the abandonment of the card account and the withdrawal of financial support for rural post offices will force many out of business.'

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