How important are post offices? I have a feeling they're more important to the fabric of our communities - particularly rural ones - than we give them credit for. It's not just about stamps and pensions - it's about getting out of the house, making contact with others and hearing the latest about what's going on in the village. Like the closure of a church, pub or village shop, the demise of the post office is going to make social inclusion harder. What's the solution? Councils or community organisations should run them.  

it is a growing problem. I live in a fairly well served housing estate which at one time was the largest in UK. We now have one centralised PO and its absolutely no use to the elderly or disabled who  need it. Its located in a shopping centre but unless you are fit and able to walk  or have the capabilities to use public transport you are snookered.

I reside in a small hamlet with a post pffice which has been threatened with closure. I am going to be a bit contreversial in the fact that post offices need to diversify if they want  to remain open. Ours sells the usual daily foods and papers as well as the usual post officey things. But so does the town which is 7 miles away and much cheaper too. Yes I know not everyone has a car but tell that to the elderly drivers who putter at 10mph in a 60mph limit (another post I think). Seriously though, maybe there is room for co-operatives which offer more services. How about having a shop which has a coffee room. library, information centre as well as internet access, groceries, bike repairs you name it you could change it to suit individual areas and the locals could get involved to run it. Maybe the government might even see fit to give start up grants to support this. Anyway we are now looking at what we as the local people (church included) can do to keep a service running but change it so the poor shop owner can make a profit.    

 Perhaps some social care services could be accessed from a post office?

I think you're on to something. The answers do lie in mobilising the community. I've read articles in the past about small communities running co-operative shops where everyone does short shifts and helps out. This could be extended to other products and services but it's quite an intimidating thing for people to get off the ground on their own. It would benefit from some free professional support and advice. 

And I still think we're letting the Royal Mail off lightly. They're being allowed to divest themselves of post offices without any come back over social responsibility. While staff are being made redundant and older people become more excluded, Adam Crozier, the Royal Mail's chief exectuive, received a 26% pay rise last year. He's now reputedly on a package of £1.25m - how many post offices would that keep open?

I have just been informed by letter that we are loosing our post office for definate but that it will be transfered to the hotel which is just a stone throw away, we will haev reduced hours but more services available. Good idea.

That doesn't sound too bad. Maybe we need to get away from the idea of post offices as free-standing organisations. People like them partly because they need to send parcels but partly because they are like a community centre for some. So why don't we just have extended community centres which have post office, library, corner shop, cafe etc for places where they don't have any alternative services?

Clearly social isolation is a major issue which can and does negatively affect many people's lives and does need tackling, however, I think it is quite easy and unfair to blame the Post Office and their closures for  the community's social isolation issues.  Perhaps the local council or even ourselves, as community members should take more responsibility instead of placing it all at the feet of what is essentially a profit making enterprise rather than  a charitable  organisation. 

I do actually question whether the Post Office is this "social panacea" as is often described in the media.