Stoke post box Hayling Island: Victory for Maria Gay after her campaign forces Royal Mail U-turn

Maria Gay, an elderly resident of Havant Road, Hayling Island was shocked to find her local post box was sealed when trying to post a card to her great nephew last summer. However, instead of accepting the circumstances, she set up a campaign to get the Royal Mail to install a new one. Despite the Royal Mail refusing a number of times, Maria and her neighbours, with the support of Hayling West councillor Paul Gray, have won after less than a year of campaigning.

The original post box was sealed once the Stoke Post Office closed down in July 2023, meaning Maria and her neighbours had to make a round trip of a mile to post a letter to the next nearest one. Maria wrote a number of letters to Royal Mail in which she received numerous reasons back as to why they could not install a new post box, from it being too dangerous a road for their workers to collect letters, to the fact that the next nearest post box is 0.5 miles away and therefore they have complied with their policy of having a post box within half a mile of all residents.

Maria would not let it lie. She said: "I was determined to be like Andy in the Shawshank Redemption, when he was told to stop writing one letter a week, he increased it to two. I contacted my local councillor, the delightful Paul, and things escalated from there. We had a meeting at The Yew Tree Inn and we printed leaflets and distributed them around the area.

"We started dressing up the post box to raise awareness. But they kept saying the nearest post box is only 0.5 miles away, I maintain it's 0.6 but that's not the point. To get there you have to walk along a dangerous road, it's a very narrow pavement, and it's half a mile there and half a mile back. That's a mile, I'm lucky if I can walk 500 yards and I'm not the only one. It's been impossible for me to send cards to people."

Having campaigned since July 2023, a letter arrived in March 2024 from the CEO of the Royal Mail confirming a new post box would be installed. Maria and her fellow campaigners had won. Maria said: "At first I couldn't believe, I sent the letter to Paul to check I had read it right. When I did believe it, I was absolutely over the moon, I am thrilled to bits."

The new post box will be installed in an area which was highlighted to the Royal Mail as an ideal spot by Maria herself. While the victory has been celebrated by Maria, she was keen to highlight that she couldn't have done it without the support of her neighbours, as well as Paul and Hayling East councillor Mark Coates.

Cllr Paul Gray said: "I'm absolutely thrilled we've finally had success and the Royal Mail has seen sense. I always maintained their overly simplistic 'one-size-fits-all' policy failed to recognise local circumstances. It's a very crude tool for dealing with what can be an emotive subject for many older or disabled people. I'm delighted that at last they seem to now agree.

"Of course, none of this would have been possible without Maria, who has been the star player in our team. If the Royal Mail thought she would be an elderly lady who would just go away, they now know very differently."

The Royal Mail were approached for comment but at the time of writing they have not responded.