Darnall's new post office will open on Tuesday 31 August. It will be based in Darnall Forum's offices at 245 Main Road, which are being remodelled to make room for a modern post office and shop with four counters. The post office will provide
- passport checking
- foreign currency
- travel insurance
- home and car insurance
- moneygrams
- parelforce guaranteed
- next-day delivery
- the full range of parcel and postal services
- stamps
- cards, stationery, toys and confectionery
The People's Post Office
But this will be a post office with a difference. Neil Bishop, Darnall Forum's Manager said, 'This really will be "The People's Post Office" because it belongs to the people of Darnall. Anyone who lives or works in Darnall, Attercliffe and Acres Hill can join Darnall Forum and have a say in how the post office is run because Darnall Forum owns the new post office and any profit we make, after we have paid the post office staff and all the bills and running costs, will be ploughed back into local services for people in Darnall. And it is the members of the Forum who decide the sort of services which the Forum should provide at our annual general meeting.'
Local councillors have been instrumental in helping the post office to open for business again. They persuaded the East Community Assembly to make a grant of £10,000 towards the set-up costs. MP Clive Betts has also given the Forum his support and campaigned to get Post Office Ltd, which runs the post office network, to agree a groundbreaking deal which will allow Darnall Forum itself to be responsible for the post office instead of a sub-postmaster.
Chair of the Forum, Sylvia Hamilton, said, 'Darnall needs a post office. Many people here found it very difficult to travel to Attercliffe or Handsworth, or into town, to get the things they need. And the local shopping centre needs a post office, too. That's why we decided we had to do something to help.'
Mr Betts told The Herald: "The Darnall Forum team deserve a great deal of credit for a superb achievement."
The post office will open for business on Tuesday 31 August at 9am. Its opening hours will be 9 - 5.30 on weekdays and 9 - 12.30 on Saturdays.
2 comments:
How do you join the Darnall Forum to have a say about the local area? I am in full time employment so cannot attend the daytime sessions. Are opportunities to get involved available to people like me?
Our public meetings are usualy held in the evening after work
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