Letters to Heaven post Box

Posted 12/11/2024 : By: Trevor Gurney

WYMONDHAM TOWN COUNCIL'S CEMETERY GETS A LETTERS TO HEAVEN POST BOX

 

A new Letters to Heaven post box has been installed at the Wymondham Town Council run cemetery, joining other similar ones across Norfolk and beyond.

 

Letters to Heaven is a concept started in 2023 by a then 9-year-old girl.  It aims to help the bereaved cope with their grief by giving them the chance to write and post letters, cards and drawings, to a lost loved one in a special post box.  

 

Resident Lisa King contacted Cllr Suzanne Nuri-Nixon to ask if WTC would consider installing one of these post boxes at the small chapel at their Cemetery Lane site.  Cllr Annette James had spotted the practice in the news last year and discussed installing one with Cllr Nuri-Nixon then - but it was Lisa’s request that prompted action.  Cllr James and Cllr Lucy Nixon took the proposal to the Council’s Leisure, Environment, Enterprise and Tourism (LEET) Committee where it was approved by a majority vote.

 

Lisa attended Friday’s launch of the post box and said “I am so happy to see this installed before Christmas; a time when many miss their loved ones even more than usual.  I am sure it will bring comfort to people and I look forward to using it.”

 

The post box is painted cream to differentiate it from Royal Mail boxes and no stamp is needed.  It will be emptied periodically by council staff who will treat the contents sensitively.  Envelopes are not opened to maintain confidentiality and, ultimately, they will be shredded and recycled. 

 

Cllr James said “This is a simple addition to our town’s cemetery that anyone can use, not only those who have loved ones buried here.  We hope visiting our grounds and posting a letter to your loved one in this post box will bring you comfort”.