This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Lifeline sent to urban Post Offices
14/10/2003
The first Post Office to be upgraded under a £2
million Executive fund has been officially opened
today.
Drip Road Post Office is located in the heart of
Raploch inStirling, an area of high social deprivation.
The Post Office has been completely refurbished
with a £50,000 grant from the Fund to Develop Post
Offices in Deprived Urban Areas which is administered
by Communities Scotland.
In addition to Post Office counter services, it
also features a convenience store and a range of
complementary services.
Deputy Communities Minister Mary Mulligan
said:
"Local Post Offices act as a focal
point for the community and when they close down in an
area of high deprivation, it can add to the feeling of
community isolation. Renovating poor premises like
these into an attractive new focal point for public
services demonstrates the Executive's commitment to
social inclusion, supporting community activity and
rebuilding respect."
Postmaster Iain Orr has run Drip Road Post
Office for the past four years. In addition to the
grant he has invested a considerable sum of his own
money into the refurbishment.
He says he is certain that he could not have
contemplated carrying out the work without the help
offered by the scheme.
"It would have taken at least three
years for me to get the money together. That's a long
time to spend in shabby premises, with a declining
customer base. Now I have the work done and have even
been able to raise a bank loan to improve services.
It's a dream come true."
Mr Orr has already recruited extra
staff to cope with their anticipated new business. He
is hopeful that the new premises will also help
revitalize local shops, as new customers are attracted
by the improvements.
Mervyn Jones, executive
officer representingScotlandon theNational Federation of Sub Postmasters,
sees the scheme as offering alifeline to urban sub
postmasters.
He said:
"It is a genuine attempt by
Communities Scotland to maintain a vital service to
deprived urban communities."
"The importance of rural post
offices has been recognized for some time, but those in
deprived city areas are equally important. Many
deprived urban area residents; particularly the elderly
and those on benefits, would be hugely inconvenienced
if they had no Post Office available in their
area.
"We are delighted that the Scottish
Executive are prepared to assist sub-postmasters in
continuing to deliver a quality service that is also a
vital community lifeline."
The £2 million fund will operate
over a two-year period to March 31 2005. Post office
Branches classified by Post Office Ltd as urban Post
Office Branches and located in the 20 per cent most
deprived post code sectors based on the 1998 Scottish
index of deprivation and the 2003 and 2004 Index of
deprivation area are eligible to apply.
The money is available for
implementing capital improvements to the non-post
office (i.e. retail) elements of the business, such as
improving access, provision of ICT facilities, better
security and the costs involved in starting, improving
or modernising the retail business.