Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Protecting East Devon's Post Offices > campaigning ahead of the government's review

Over the years, East Devon's post offices have been under more and more pressure:
Welcome to Royal Mail Group
BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Post office closure list released
BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Final decision on post offices

The District Council used to have a 'Post Office Champion':
Councils team up for rural Post Offices

Earlier in the year, Honiton was under threat of closure:
Staff fight to save Honiton Crown Post Office | Exeter Express and Echo

More post offices are due to be closed - and the 38 Degrees campaign group has just launched a petition:


38 Degrees Logo

Thousands of post offices are under threat. In just a few days time, the government might change the rules so that post offices which don’t make a lot of money have an uncertain future. [1]

Post offices are more than just places where we send parcels. They’re often central to the local area, somewhere you can collect your pension, pay bills, and do your banking all face to face. 1 in 4 of us visit a post office every week of the year. [2] For millions of Brits, they are at the heart of the local community.

The government's review of post offices is only open for one more week. [3] The news about the review is tucked away on a government website so unless we all speak up now - the people who use the post office - it could close with barely any fuss. A huge petition to the government would prove that the public want them protected for good. 


As things stand, government rules mean the Post Office has to guarantee that 95 per cent of people are within three miles of a branch. [4] But ministers could decide to change that rule, putting thousands of post offices at risk.

Thousands of us are already coming together to protect our local post offices and stop them from closing. [5] But this one of the biggest threats to the post office network we’ve ever seen. It’s also our best ever chance to protect thousands of post offices in one go.

It can feel impossible for any of us to protect post offices on our own. But by coming together, hundreds of thousands of us are a powerful force. Each signature on the petition adds pressure on the government to protect post offices. If 100,000 of us sign the petition we’ll deliver it to Greg Clark and Margot James - the ministers in charge of the post office - in a few days time.

Please sign the petition today. It only takes one minute:


PS: You might have seen the news about post office strikes in the run-up to Christmas. Yes, it’s annoying to have your local post office closed. But if the government’s post office changes go ahead, our post offices might be closed for good - not just a few days.

There are many different ways we can each use our individual power to protect our post offices. People who work for post offices are striking - and that’s one way to have impact. Hundreds of thousands of us are using our signatures. Please add your name now: http://link.38degrees.org.uk/PostOffices

NOTES:
[1,3,4] The Telegraph: Future of rural post offices hang in balance as ministers consider changing rules that keep them open

[2] The Post Office: Who we are

[5] There are currently 23 people running campaigns to save their local post offices on the 38 Degrees website. They’re supported by tens of thousands of people. You can see a list of the campaigns here:
https://home.38degrees.org.uk/?s=post+office 

Protect our Post Offices
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