Everything you need to know about the fight for Felpham post office

Here's everything you need to know about the ongoing fight for Felpham post office

Transcript

00:00Hi there, my name's Conor Gormley, this is Sussex World and here's everything you need

00:08to know about the ongoing fight to save Felfham Post Office.

00:12The Post Office, described by locals as the beating heart of the community, has been in

00:16danger for about a year now.

00:19The existing premises on Felfham Road went up for sale last year and scared of losing

00:24a valuable community asset, residents have banded together to save it.

00:29They've raised money via GoFundMe, they've roped in celebrity patrons like Bill Nighy

00:34of all people, hosted events, one of them with Bill Nighy, and made as much noise as

00:39possible in a bid to make sure the village keeps its post office however they can do

00:44it.

00:45The group originally planned, originally fundraised to buy the current building, the one on Felfham

00:50Road outright, hoping to match donations with a levelling up grant and take the building

00:56on themselves.

00:57But those hopes were dashed when, following this summer's election, levelling up grant

01:01applications were basically frozen.

01:04It seemed all hope was lost until a sizeable donation from a mysterious benefactor gave

01:09residents the oomph they needed to lease another site on Grasmere Arcade, which is close to

01:14where the original post office was located in the early 19th century.

01:20It's great news and it seems to have rescued the project, but there's still plenty of work

01:24to be done.

01:25Addressing residents at a public meeting on August 13th, where news of the mystery donation

01:30was announced, trustees at the Friends of Felfham CIC, which is the organisation that's

01:35been fighting to secure the post office for the last year, told members of the public

01:38both that their previous donations were still important and that as work continues to make

01:43ready the Grasmere Arcade site, more donations might well be needed.

01:48It's great news for the village and proof that when members of a community come together

01:52they really can achieve whatever they set their mind to.

01:55The date for the opening of the new post office site has yet to be revealed, but residents

02:00have been assured that in the meantime the current post office will continue as normal

02:05until the new one opens.

02:07So good news all round and fantastic work by the Friends of Felfham CIC.

02:12Thanks very much for listening, I'm Connor Gormley, this is Sussex World, and for more

02:17on the fight to save Felfham Post Office, do make sure to check out our coverage online.

02:21That's www.sussexworld.co.uk.

02:25Thanks very much.