VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR OUR FELPHAM COMMUNITY POST OFFICE STORE

If you would like to volunteer to help in our community post office store, please come to The Fox Inn, Felpham on Sunday 6th July 2025 (7 for 730PM)

Join our team and be part of our exciting new community post office store

2 hour shifts
No experience needed
Some training provided

Come and find out more at a Volunteers Meet and Greet at The Fox Inn, Waterloo Road, Felpham on Sunday 6th July 2025 (7 for 7.30PM). See you there!

BLOCKBUSTERS! YOU’VE SEEN THE TV SHOW – NOW PLAY THE GAME
IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR LOCAL PUB!

QUIZMASTER: MARGARET BLAKEY

Enter the ‘Save the ATM’ Blockbusters Quiz!

Entrance fee is £5 – which includes a raffle ticket
Teams of (max.) six – but if you are on your own we can make up teams on the night. Please come! – Winners receive a cash prize
Raffle prizes include a Sunday Roast for two at The Fox, a bottle of wine & other great prizes
Prize money will be split between the lucky winners and the ‘Move our ATM’ fund (see below).

2nd Quiz at same time same place is on 31st August

RELOCATION TO GRASSMERE PARADE UPDATE

The Post Office are incredibly supportive of our move to new premises at 1 Grassmere Parade. However, they have just presented us with a bill for £35,000 for security and other works which we are not allowed to undertake. This includes £11,000 alone for moving the ATM down the road! So we are fundraising by holding a series of events, starting with our first Blockbuster Quiz in The Fox Inn (details above)

*We raised £420 for this worthy cause. Thank you everyone who came and made this such a inspiring event*

WORLD PREMIERE

Internationally renowned recording artists Zachary Paul [violin] and Celia Eydeland [organ] come to Felpham from New York City.

For the premiere of two pieces composed especially for this Felpham event.

FREE ADMISSION. Donations towards improving vital disability access to our new Post Office premises on Grassmere Parade, opening later this summer. (If you are unable to make the concert, you can still donate to this worthy cause here)

Wine will be served. Donations accepted.

“Zachary Paul proves one human being alone on stage with a violin can still conjure up a whole world” – The Quietus

Produced by Mike Harding at The Summerhouse. With thanks to Rev. John Challis, James Rushman & Jane Summerville.

Target: £5k

Hello, we are Friends of Felpham CIC and we have been established to buy the Felpham Village Post Office and run it for the benefit of the community.

Important News:
With your very generous help and support we have already raised almost £25,000 but now we have a new target to raise an additional £5,000 to enhance disability access by raising the level of the pavement to shop floor level and installing an automatic push-button door. Please donate so we can make this essential community asset a welcoming place for everyone.

Donations can again be made via GoFundMe and we are very grateful for every penny donated

Help us make the new shop accessible for all

Please note that Peter Rollison (The Fundraiser) is a director of Friends of Felpham CIC and that all fundraising is done on behalf of the CIC. All funds raised will be paid directly to the CIC once the campaign is deemed to be successful.

This morning Santander announced 95 further branch closures around the country… The Santander branch in Bognor is closing on 14th July 2025 and is one of the last banking high street spots we have locally… (Lloyds have also announced closures, but no further details as yet).

All the more reason to support our efforts to save Fepham Post Office, which hopes to offer full banking services on its reincarnation!

We have just sent out our first newsletter. You can sign up and receive all our newsletters by filling in the contact form here.

Campaign News – March 2025

Our vision is for a new, exciting hub for the community, with the shop and the post office in a revitalised Grassmere Parade at the heart of the village.

IMAGINE our own public space with seating, free wifi, ice-cream, pop ups, events… A centre of activity where the village can come together and enjoy Felpham at its best.

The Post Office will offer all the services you are used to – and more. The redoubtable Charlie will continue at the counter. We will be opening a 2nd window soon.

The Shop will be 30% larger with more choice of local produce, and chilled & frozen goods. Ali & Tracy, with all their local knowledge, are also coming with us. We are looking for volunteers to assist them. Can you help?

We have raised almost £70,000 thanks to your generous donations and fundraising. Approx £20,000 of this has been spent on such things as legal fees, rent and insurance. An additional £30,000 is needed to complete the building work, fit out the shop, train the staff, enhance and increase stock-lines and safeguard its longterm future.

How to Donate

You can donate by bank transfer:
Account name: Friends of Felpham CIC
Account number: 67330700
Sort code: 08-92-99

Donations can also be made by cheque (made payable to Friends of Felpham CIC) and left at the post office itself (or handed to a director).

Any donation of £100 or over qualifies the donor to become a shareholder:

Up to £100 – you can choose to be listed on the register of donors on the website.

£100+ – become a shareholder with a share certificate and voting rights. You will receive a certificate designed by a top graphic designer.

£1000+ – you have the option to receive public acknowledgement displayed in the shop and on the website.

Help realise this future for the village, for generations to come.

It is critically important we save our Post Office and shop. Without it;

♦ reduced footfall, damaging local businesses
♦ negatively impacted property values
♦ reduced support for those who need it most
♦ reduced banking services locally

Number One Grassmere Parade Update

Work continues apace. We have been donated sanitary ware, floor tiles, concrete blocks, a new door lock, labour. Below is a 3D graphic of what the Post Office could look like. Permission has been obtained from the freeholder for the ramp and handrails to be added. Huge thanks to Richard Pearce, and his volunteers, who have done the lion’s share of the work so far.

Is there a plasterer who could gift a day’s work to finish off 2 small areas of rear internal wall? We have the materials. Your expertise and your labour are needed urgently.

Do you have half a can of eggshell white paint leftover? We need to paint the walls. Maybe you could volunteer an afternoon to help?

The draw was made on Saturday, witnessed by an impartial customer and the winning ticket numbers are:

286 – £350

399 – £100

465 – £50

The winners have all been contacted and the remainder of the pay out was presented to Friends of Felpham CIC for the Save the Post Office Campaign by Charlie from the Post Office

Congratulations to the winners and. massive thank you to EVERYONE who bought tickets.

THANKS TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS 
BUT THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

WE NEED…

— VITAL FUNDS. BECOME A SHAREHOLDER 
BY DONATING £100 OR MORE – [supporting our infrastructure is vital to the health and survival of the village]

— SHOP VOLUNTEERS FOR SHORT SHIFTS

— BUILDING SUPPLIES & SHOP FIXTURES

— TRADESMEN TO OFFER THEIR SERVICES

JOB OPPORTUNITIES, WATCH THIS SPACE…

info@friendsoffelpham.org

Mike Harding, Lizzie Mickery, Alison Griffiths MP, Sarah Hodgson

Photo: Jo Bowen