Business gets a new lease of life under charity management and sets 'important precedent'

Jeni Harvey

A SHEFFIELD post office which was closed down due to national cuts two years ago is set to reopen under the management of a charity, in a move that is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Darnall post office was one of 65 branches in South Yorkshire, north Derbyshire, Huddersfield and the Colne Valley to be closed by Post Office Ltd in 2008.

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The cuts came after the previous Labour government announced in May 2007 that there were plans to close 2,500 post offices nationwide – an 18 per cent reduction in the number of branches. However, next Tuesday, Darnall post office is set to reopen in a new building just a few hundred metres away from the previous branch.

The new post office will be based in the offices of Darnall Forum which, with the help of Sheffield Council, has now set up a subsidiary company to run the branch from its base in Main Road.

In January this year the Forum announced plans to re-open the branch and drew up a business plan to run the post office as a social enterprise, meaning any profits could be ploughed back into the community.

Sheffield Council’s East Community Assembly then voted unanimously to award the Forum up to 10,000 towards the start-up cost of opening the business. Darnall Forum also raised an additional 40,000 for the project by applying for a loan from the Yorkshire Key Fund.

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Coun Martin Lawton, chairman of the East Community Assembly, said: “This is a unique project which puts the community at the heart of matters, which is what community assemblies are about.

“We are delighted to have been able to help get it off the ground. We wish the Forum the best of luck.”

Although charities have been involved in running post offices across the country for a number of years, most of these branches are in rural areas where the facility opens for just a few hours each week – rather than a full-time branch.

Chairman of Darnall Forum, Sylvia Hamilton, added: “We believe this is the first time anywhere in the UK that a charity itself has been given the green light to manage a full-time post office rather than an individual.

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“It will no doubt be encouraging news to other community groups that may consider similar action.

“Today we are setting an important precedent for how local communities in other cities could keep their local post office open in future.”

Sheffield Council leader Paul Scriven said the move was possible due to the seven new community assemblies that have been set up in the city.

He said: “When we established the network of community assemblies in Sheffield we wanted to empower local people to decide how things should be done in their own communities.

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“What’s happening in Darnall is a brilliant example of people taking positive action to preserve a valued local service.”

When the post office closures were announced in the autumn of 2008 Adrian Wales, Post Office Ltd’s network development manager for the north-east region, said the closures were “difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly.”

However, criticism was levelled at the amount of public consultation which took place prior to the company’s decision.

From next Tuesday, the new Darnall post office will be open from 9am to 5.30pm on weekdays and from 9am to 12.30pm on Saturdays.

Since the previous post office closed last August, people in Darnall have had to walk more than a mile to branches in either Handsworth or Attercliffe.