The shop and post office, the school, the pub, the church and the village hall are traditionally seen as the heart of our villages.
Without them, the character of the place – and quality of life for the people who live there – drops.
I’ve always tried to support them all (the pub rather more than the church, admittedly) but now we've all got an opportunity to speak out if we feel rural post offices are important.
Today is the first day of National Post Office Week which sees groups as diverse as the Countryside Alliance, the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, the National Federation of Women's Institutes and the Royal National Institute for the Blind - uniting in a bid to stop the tide of rural post offices closures.
There'll be a national rally in Westminster tomorrow, but everyone has the chance to make their opinion known by responding to a consultation document before March 8th.
Comments (1)
Get your voice heard - the rural post office network - www.ruralaction.org.uk
Everyone has a view on the future of the rural post office network - but will everyone's views be heard? Perhaps you have a good idea on the future of the network; perhaps your own experience shows a vital aspect has been over-looked. Now there is a simple way to get your point across quickly and easily. The recent popularity in 'blogging' - contributing to a weblog or online message board - has inspired ruralnet|uk to set up a blog for this issue: a simple technique allowing thousands to add their personal comments to the debate. Over half of all UK homes have access to an online computer - as well as libraries, youth clubs, schools, day centres, UK online centres, and even some Post Offices! Anyone with an interest can visit the blog and leave their comment on the consultation questions, and read what others are saying.
ruralnet|uk Chief Executive, Simon Berry said "Government consultations are all very well, but they are time consuming and complicated. Fine for the professionals but not for the people affected. It will take just a few moments for anyone to have their say in our collective consultation and their views will go straight to the government."
Visit www.ruralaction.org.uk, click any of the 'Comment' links and have your say. You can comment on as little or as much as you like. It is as simple and quick as that. There is no printing or sending to do.
At the end of the consultation period, ruralnet|uk undertakes to summarise objectively all the comments received, and feed them into the Government's consultation procedure. Says Simon: "We were the first to use the internet to run a collective consultation on the 'first' rural white paper way back in the spring of 1999 when we received 1154 contributions. It was said to be "one of the most useful submissions received". So we know that a collective view from rural people, presented by us will carry a lot of weight.
So, don't be left out: go to www.ruralaction.org.uk state your views and have an impact on the future of post office services in rural areas.
Posted by Pat Shore | March 2, 2007 11:45 AM
Posted on March 2, 2007 11:45