Community delivers post office

WHEN their local post office closed down in August last year people in Darnall, Sheffield, were faced with the prospect of having to walk more than a mile to their nearest branch.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Sep 2010, 01:19 BST
Updated 1st Sep 2010, 01:19 BST

For a year they have been doing just that, but yesterday the branch reopened under the management of a local charity - a move that is believed to be the first of its kind in the country for a full-time urban branch.

The new post office is in the offices of Darnall Forum, the charity now running it.

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Darnall Forum manager Neil Bishop said: "We hope local people will continue to use the post office. It really is a case of use it, or lose it. This really will be the people's post office because it belongs to the people of Darnall.

"Any profit we make, after we have paid the staff, bills and running costs, will be ploughed back into local services for people in Darnall."

Darnall Forum first got involved when the sub-postmaster left and the original branch in Main Street closed last year.

When Post Office Ltd struggled to find someone willing to take over, members of the forum decided to do it themselves.

They were given a 10,000 grant from Sheffield Council's community assemblies scheme and a further 40,000 loan from the Yorkshire Key Fund.

Related topics:CommunitySheffieldSheffield Council