Joanne Cash

Save Our Post Offices - Update

I am writing to congratulate the traders and residents who have campaigned tirelessly to save the Maida Hill Post Office on the Harrow Road.

However, the announcement that three more of our Post Offices in Westminster North have been earmarked for closure under the Post Office’s Network Change Programme shows that this fight is far from over. Incredibly, if these proposed closures go ahead, this community will have lost five Post Offices in five years.

This Government has closed Post Offices at an unprecedented rate during its decade in power; ripping the heart out of local communities and forcing local businesses to relocate, or even close. Nationwide, 2,500 branches are facing closure with one in five London Post Offices set to be culled.

The proposed closure of the Formosa Street, Lisson Grove and Harrow Road branches would have a devastating impact on some of our most vulnerable neighbours and significantly inconvenience our entire community.

The public consultation on the future of London’s Post Office network is open until 2nd April. This consultation period represents an opportunity for us to put forward our views and individual responses are crucial if we are to demonstrate that the Formosa Street, Lisson Grove and Harrow Road branches have our full support.

I urge you to pick up a form from the Post Office and return it FREEPOST to Anita Turner, Network Development Manager, Post Office Ltd, C/O National Consultation Team, FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM or to email consultation@postoffice.co.uk.

This is a unique opportunity for our community to pull together and everyone’s contribution is vital.

Joanne Steps Up Campaign to Save Our Harrow Road Post Office

-       Six week consultation process set to commence on Tuesday 19^th February

-       Post Office closure would affect vulnerable residents the most and have a detrimental impact upon local business

Joanne this week stepped up her campaign to save the Harrow Road Post Office which is in danger of being permanently closed under the Labour Government’s Post Office closure programme. Across the country more than 4,000 sub-Post Offices have closed since 1997, with a further 2,500 due to close by 2009; a six-week consultation process to decide the future of London’s Post Office network is set to commence on 19^th February.

Launching her campaign Cash said: “I believe in a sense of community and local Post Offices play a central role in many people’s lives; it is where they cash their pensions, sort out their bills and obtain advice. The closure of the Harrow Road Post Office would have a devastating impact on our most vulnerable residents and significantly inconvenience our entire community. This Labour Government’s programme of Post Office closures has to stop; it is destroying local communities and has left us with fewer Post Offices, providing fewer services, for fewer people.”

Local trader, Paul Walsh, believes this closure would have a detrimental impact on business in the area:”If the Post Office closes it will represent yet another blow to businesses on the Harrow Road. We are already suffering badly enough at the hands of Labour’s congestion charge extension, the last thing we need is for yet more business to be driven away by the closure of our local Post Office.”

Explaining the importance of the consultation period Cash commented: “In the coming weeks I will be working closely with local residents to generate yet more support for the Harrow Road Post Office and to increase awareness in the local community about the nature of the consultation process. I want to stop the Harrow Road Post Office from closing and the next six weeks represent a chance for us to put forward our views and to demonstrate that this Post Office has the full support of local residents.”

Here in Westminster North we have a Labour MP who has consistently voted for her Government’s closure of local Post Offices. I share David Cameron’s determination to support our Post Office Network. We believe in a sense of community and local Post Offices play a central role in many people’s lives. It is where they cash their pensions, sort out their bills and obtain advice. The closure of the Harrow Road Post Office would have a devastating impact on our most vulnerable neighbours and significantly inconvenience our entire community. If the Post Office closes, it will be another blow to local businesses, who are already suffering enough under this government.

This Labour programme of Post Office closures has to stop; it is destroying local communities. A public consultation on the future of the Post Office network in London commences on 19th February and I will provide a voice for our local community’s opposition to losing the Harrow Road Post Office. If you would like to have your say, or help with the campaign in any way, please contact me at joanne@westminsternorthconservatives.com

Click Here to Sign Joanne's Petition to Save our Harrow Road Post Office

Joanne and Boris Johnson, The Conservative London Mayoral Candidate, Visit the All Stars Boxing Gym

- Boris signs the All Stars petition and pledges his support for the campaign to provide a secure, long-term future for the All Stars Boxing Gym.
- Boris emphasises the importance of supporting local community projects in disadvantaged areas that provide positive opportunities for young people.

Joanne and Boris Johnson MP, the Conservative London Mayoral Candidate, today visited the All Stars Boxing Club on the Harrow Road to emphasise the importance of supporting community projects that provide positive opportunities for local children.

The All Stars Gym provides a vital community service for people of a wide range of ages and ethnicities in one of Westminster North's most disadvantaged areas and has also produced a number of international athletes. The All Stars' long term prospects are threatened by their landlord who had to be forced, by a court order, to carry out basic repairs to the building. Joanne has spent the past twelve months working to secure the future of the club; last year she helped to launch its petition, which has now attracted over 1,000 signatures, and found them free legal advice. Westminster's Conservative-led Council have stepped in to help the management of the All Stars produce an Action Plan that, in conjunction with the petition, will demonstrate they have both the support and the resources required to make a successful funding application in the near future.

Speaking about his visit to the club Boris said: "It has been a great privilege for me to witness, first-hand, the fantastic work that the All Stars Boxing Gym does in providing opportunities for young people in Westminster North. Voluntary organisations such as the All Stars help to get kids off the streets and allow them to develop new skills in a structured environment where they are surrounded by positive adult role models. I was delighted to sign the All Stars petition launched by Joanne Cash, to lend my support to the club and help to ensure that it can continue serving the local community for many years to come."

Joanne praised Boris' well publicised support for organisations such as the All Stars: "Nothing is more important than our young people because they are our future. Boris shares my concern about the number of young Londoners who have suffered at the hands of gang –related violence over the past twelve months. Places like the All Stars help to give children discipline and purpose and prevent senseless waste. I wholeheartedly support Boris's plans to build a London-wide network for the thousands of volunteers who work with kids so that they may fulfil their potential, and offer a positive alternative for Londoners to the current tragic cycle of knife and gun crime. Community based projects such as the All Stars Boxing Gym must be treasured and protected and Boris' visit has helped us to demonstrate the importance of this club within our local community and the level of support that it enjoys amongst our residents."