I hope readers enjoyed their Easter weekend and perhaps enjoyed time with family or friends. It may be a leap back from the chocolate-fest laid on in the supermarkets, but Easter is the quintessential Christian festival in a country in which Christianity remains the majority religion and is usually closely intertwined in the social fabric of our local communities. After admittedly centuries of intolerance, we are fortunate to live today in a country where faith of any kind is generally a private matter. However, for a considerable number of Christians around the world, simple acts of faith can present huge danger. The charity OpenDoors records that over 360 million Christians worldwide suffer persecution and discrimination. Last year, 5,621 Christians were even killed simply for their faith in countries such as North Korea, Somalia, Pakistan and Iran.
Last week, I visited Arundel Post Office to hear more about the challenges and opportunities facing our local high-street hubs from Postmaster, Paul Money. With the closure of so many bank branches as many switch to cashless payments, our Post Offices are even more important as hubs to conduct many banking activities or simply to pay in and to withdraw cash. In fact, some 30 banks – including all the main brands – provide services via your local Post Office now. A survey from Citizens Advice discovered unsurprisingly that high street users voted Post Offices more important to local communities than any other service. They are also the first point of call for access to many Government services. But it is not just shoppers. Small local businesses rely on the services offered by Post Offices and if it wasn’t for this, far fewer outlets would themselves be able to accept cash as it would be too far to travel to a faraway branch.
