Thousands of Dulwich residents are trying to stop their East Dulwich post office from closing in an attempt to keep this “lifeline” for the community that are using it to send Christmas cards at this time of year.

The post office is located on Lordship Lane and sits between Dulwich Village and East Dulwich, a bustling area of South London.

East Dulwich Post Office is one of the 115 post offices earmarked for closure across the UK  as the government-owned company faces competition from rival parcel-couriers such as Evri and reports pre-tax losses of £81 million.

Local residents have many reasons to sign an online petition to keep the East Dulwich post office open.

The small shop is a hive of activity on a crisp December morning with a seemingly endless stream of customers wanting to use its services. Customers arrive to send and collect parcels, buy stamps and post stacks of Christmas cards using the red box just outside.

“It’s surprising [they want to close it] considering how busy the post office is,” says customer Jess Ford. She adds that she “lives down the road, so travelling to another would be inconvenient”. 

If the closure goes ahead, the nearest post office would be on Forest Hill Road, roughly half a mile away.

Thousands of signatures

The petition to keep it open was started two weeks ago by local resident Muge Collier and has already garnered more than 1,900 signatures. It has received support from the Southwark Liberal Democrats, the opposition in the area.

Collier has said that the post office in East Dulwich “is not just a service provider, it’s a lifeline that binds our community together”. She added that keeping it open “will foster cohesion and convenience for residents of Dulwich, East and West”.

Local Lib Dem Councillor Victor Chamberlain said that closure would be “a devastating blow to the area”. He added: “This facility provides services that are indispensable to our residents, especially older adults.”

At several points in the afternoon, a queue begins to form, snaking out of the door and down the road, customers come and go with several also stopping to use the free ATM outside the shop to withdraw money.

The overall concern in the community appears to be that the closure of this post office would affect the most vulnerable residents and members of society. Customer Lara Hoffman-Leatherdale says: “It’s disappointing, especially for vulnerable people having to travel further for the post office’s services.”

This view is echoed online. Liana Kaiser, who signed the petition, commented that the closure would “cause untold misery” especially to the elderly and parents with young children.

Residents who want to help save the East Dulwich post office and protect the community’s “lifeline” can sign Muge Collier’s petition on Change.org.