Post office moves to local church

The bell rang at 1pm and the first customers for the new post office trundled into St James’s Church on Sherriff Road today. The West End Lane post office was supposed to close at midday, but in fact closed yesterday putting even more pressure on the Sherriff Centre team to be up and running bang on time.

Father Andrew Cain and Sherriff Centre project manager Jane Edwards (photo via @churchnw6)
Father Andrew Cain and Sherriff Centre project manager Jane Edwards (photo via @churchnw6)

Never one to shy away from publicity, Father Andrew Cain had invited BBC London to the opening and anchor Alice Bhandukravi was there to speak to Fr Andrew (and ask me about the quality of the cake). The news report is here.

Most of the early arrivals to the post office/café/shop/playarea/church seemed impressed. For many, it was their first sight of the transformed space. It is believed to be the first full-time post office located in a functioning church and certainly the first in London.

Everything is in “soft launch” stage at the moment, with the official opening taking place on August 1st. For the time being though, the café makes a very cool escape from the humidity outside (and there’s underfloor heating for the winter!).

Protect your PIN - someone may be looking over your shoulder
Protect your PIN – someone may be looking over your shoulder

PostOffice_shop

Comments

4 responses to “Post office moves to local church”

  1. […] post office in a church? That’s how they roll in West […]

  2. Keith Moffitt avatar
    Keith Moffitt

    Glad you liked the panoramic photo, though a shame my tweet said post office twice – I was meaning to comment on the amazing children’s play kit too!

  3. Jane Ennis avatar
    Jane Ennis

    Look forward to visiting this when I get back from Italy!

  4. […] I visited the Sherriff Centre, a renovated church in West Hampstead which, uniquely, is home to a charity run Post Office.  […]

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