Pupils lend post offices support

12:57pm Friday 18th April 2008

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CHILDREN from a South Lakeland primary school have put their creative talents to work in a bid to save a village post office.

Year three and four pupils from Penny Bridge Primary School, in Greenodd, have staged an outdoor performance, using hand-crafted props, as a demonstration against the proposed closure of the village's post office.

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Greenodd Post Office is one of 17 branches earmarked for closure in South Lakeland, Furness and Eden as part of Post Office Ltd's national cost-cutting Network Change Programme.

Postal bosses want to replace the existing office with an outreach service, in the form of a van parked outside the village hall.

The demonstration, which involved 31 seven, eight and nine-year-olds, was aimed at sending a message to postal chiefs, telling them just how vital the post office is to their community.

Tuesday's demonstration was organised by two of the pupils' parents.

Lou Reed, one of the organisers, said: "The Post Office just doesn't understand the needs of our village and of the larger community around Greenodd and Penny Bridge.

"The proposed outreach service they've suggested just won't work for us. First of all we need a full-time post office not just a few hours on odd days of the week, but also they just won't be able to find a parking space outside the village hall."

Helen Iddon, who also helped to organise the demonstration, said the children were keen to get their message across.

"We've got a wonderful, creative way to demonstrate just how impractical the Post Office plan is," she said. "Our kids are very excited about making this statement in support of village life."