The Post Office (PO) is looking to promote its branches as ‘Warm Spaces’ for people struggling to heat their homes this month.

A message sent to branches in late December said some POs are already “providing spaces for their vulnerable customers to sit and warm up”.

Other newsagents and convenience stores also reported the same trend. Meet & Deep news in Twickenham, London told Better Retailing: “We’ve had people come in recently just to keep warm because they can’t heat their homes.”

Encouraging others to take part, it continued: “It’s the simplest of services that any branch with a small bit of space can do. This can make a huge difference to customers’ wellbeing.”

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The statement from the PO suggested the organisation was looking to identify more branches offering warm spaces with the aim of including them in an ‘advertising plan’ to promote branches to their local community using social media.

The scheme to help customers struggling to afford their heating comes as the PO warning its branches face a similar challenge, with the organisation lobbying for further government support to help branches afford their own heating.

PO non-executive director and subpostmaster Elliot Jacobs suggested to Better Retailing last month that failure to replace the government’s existing business energy support, set to expire in April, would likely result in Post Office branch closures.

PO branches looking to take part in the ‘Warm Spaces’ campaign were advised to message jyotika.babu@postoffice.co.uk

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