Group calls on posties to help get word out

A community group has been told it will not be possible for Royal Mail staff to undertake a leaflet drop to vulnerable households on Skye.

Royal Mail says unaddressed leaflets could be delivered to homes, but only along with addressed mail.

Homes not in receipt of mail would therefore not receive the leaflet, a situation which concerns Skye Community Response (SCR), a new group set up to help those in need during the current Covid-19 crisis.

Portree and Braes Community Trust’s local development officer Fiona Thomson said SCR had already gathered dozens of volunteers and trained them to carry out things like deliveries of food and medicines to those in need.

She said: “We’ve now launched our helpline and wanted a leaflet to go through everyone’s door to tell them about this service, as close to the launch as possible, to make the most isolated across Skye and Raasay aware of the support available.”

Shane O’Riordain, Royal Mail managing director of regulation and corporate affairs, said procedures were changed last week to meet the crisis.

He said: “We will now deliver unaddressed, door-to-door advertising mailings to customers who are receiving addressed letters or parcels at the same time, wherever practically possible.”

Royal Mail said it could not answer specifics about community groups, but the leaflets would go out over time to all Skye households receiving addressed mail.

Local councillor John Finlayson said he had taken up the issue with Royal Mail.