POST OFFICE OUTREACH The 4 different Outreach models being put forward by Post Office Limited are still under trial according to a recent press release 'Post Office Ltd to trial further ways to provide sustainable services 09/04/2008'. Is there any published information about the viability and sustainability of these proposals? I have found a Postwatch survey, but that only looked at customer satisfaction (in a tiny sample). I can not find any study or report that examines how, when, why, where and for how much POL recommends Outreach - either as a 'business as usual' replacement in a pre-existing post office or in a new location. Clearly, unless they are funded and viable, a community that finds itself with one of these may discover that their postal services rely on voluntary labour or cease to exist at all. For all that is published about Network Change, there is scant practical detail on these alternatives. Is there any information? Thank you

Hello, I asked about Post Office Outreach services and their financial viability. Any thoughts? I would be grateful for acknowledgment or if no one knows the answer..... Thanks! Naomi

Hi, Are you aware of any online forums who's focus is on the post office closure initiative ? Many Thanks

Hi, the post office consultation phase in my area is now closed and we have been told which post offices are ear marked for closure. Ive heard other areas have gained significant support from their local councils who are considering supporting individual post offices. Could you explain how I could best go about engaging the council on behalf of my community and also point me to some councils who are already actively involved with this process?

Is there any analysis of the Post Office consultation process so far that would be helpful to villages that have yet to go through it?

Having studied the published Post Office Network Review findings thus far, I am intrigued to find that two of the early reviews (Kent and part of S Wales) contained no provision for "Outreach" proposals whilst N Yorks has 23, and Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire 18. I have lived in SE Kent and did not find it dissimilar to Gloucestershire where I now live - i.e many small communities. How can there be such an imbalance.

I am contacting you on behalf of Eynsford Parish Council and the village of Eynsford in Kent. We have recently lost our Post Office in the recent round of closures along with that in our neighbouring village Farningham. As you are no doubt aware, this will cause considerable problems for the elderly and less-mobile and much inconvenience for other residents and local business. In addition it is the removal of a local service and we do not wish to see our other local retailers going the same way. I have written to the Post Office about our options regarding having some sort of Outreach Post Office service in the village (or shared between the two villages), but have not had any response yet. I was wondering what advice you could provide on this - i.e. how would an outreach service work, are we likely to get one, is there anything we can do to move the process along?

During the current network change my office is to close and be replaced by a home service, this is not a viable service for the community and also means that the current host shop will probably close and is the last amenity in the village. We as the owners are looking for ways as maintaining as many services as possible through the shop premise. We know we can become a business pick up for post so have that covered apart from funding but cannot get terminals such as pay point as very small village so do not have the trade levels they required by the providers. We do have good local support but as many customers are from outlying farms have already travelled some distance to us. Can you put us in touch with any funding or related bodies.