Newcastle North MP, Catherine McKinnell, has today paid an early-morning visit to Royal Mail’s Gosforth Delivery Office to see at firsthand the huge operation involved in delivering the Christmas post, and to pass on her thanks to dedicated, hardworking staff.
Catherine was shown around by Delivery Office Manager, Joanne Stone, and met with local postmen and women who are pulling out all the stops to sort and deliver mail across Newcastle in this hectic Christmas period.
The festive season is Royal Mail’s busiest time of the year, as millions of people shop online for gifts as well as sending Christmas cards and parcels. Royal Mail also plays a key role in e-commerce for many businesses sending goods to customers throughout the Christmas shopping season.
Catherine’s visit to the Gosforth Delivery Office today came after National Postworkers Day was celebrated earlier this week (10th December).
Catherine said:
‘I was really pleased to have this opportunity to pass on my thanks to local postmen and women for their enormous dedication and hard work in helping to ensure people receive their Christmas parcels, letters and cards on time.
‘Our posties do such an important job, in all weathers, throughout the year – but their commitment to delivering such an enormous volume of mail over a relatively short period is really impressive, and helps to make Christmas special for so many people.’
Joanne Stone, Royal Mail Delivery Office Manager, said:
‘Our postmen and women are working extremely hard to deliver Christmas parcels, cards, letters and parcels to people in Newcastle. We are grateful that Catherine visited the office today to see our operation and to support the team.
‘We’d like to remind our customers to ensure all their mail is posted by the recommended dates, so that friends and family can enjoy their Christmas greetings and parcels. If everyone uses the postcode on every item of mail, this also helps us greatly in the job that we do at this very busy time.’
Customers do not need to travel to a Royal Mail Delivery office to pick up parcels if they can’t or do not want to. They can arrange a redelivery free of charge on a day that is convenient for them (including Saturdays), or Royal Mail can deliver the item to a different address within the same postcode area. This service can be arranged by calling the number on the “Something for You” card Royal Mail leaves, or by visiting www.royalmail.com/redelivery.
Royal Mail can also now leave many mail items with a neighbour if customers are not at home when delivery is attempted. Customers can nominate a dedicated neighbour to take in their parcels by filling in a form at their delivery office.
The last recommended posting dates for Christmas are:
Second Class: Tuesday 18th December 2018
First Class: Thursday 20th December 2018
Special Delivery: Saturday 22nd December 2018