Latest News

£2 per square and win a cash prize! Available at Felpham Post Office & Village Stores

Look how well it’s going! Hurry before the squares sell out!

Thanks to Tracy for the photos

Enough carpet tiles have now been kindly donated by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. to cover the floor of 1 Grassmere Parade.

Lee organised this after picking up on the details after attending the Christmas Fair in the Village hall, and grateful thanks are due to him. Lee saw an opportunity to assist and acted on it… a HUGE thank you to all parties concerned.

Share Certificate Day

Sunday 1st December 2-5PM
1 Grassmere Parade
Felpham PO22 7NT

Come and claim your share certificate (available to donors who have contributed over £100). You can also donate and become part of the community helping support the Felpham Village Post Office campaign. If you have already donated under £100, you can top up your contribution! How to donate

Photo: Judy Armson, of Peter (right) and Mike issueing the shares

Over 50 collected their shares, and several others became shareholders by donating £100 or more. Thank you to all of you!

Representatives from the Snooks Corner Community Group donated £775 to the campaign to save the Felpham Village Post Office. Huge thanks to them and all their members for this massive support.

We are holding an open day to see the new space and our plans for the post office, which will relocate from 92 Felpham Road in due course…

We will be open from 11AM – 3PM on Sunday 20th October and all are welcome! Tea and refreshments will be served. Thanks to Gatterell’s for the gorgeous stem ginger cake!

1 Grassmere Parade
Felpham PO22 7NT

The Bognor Observer covered the event here

A successful and well-attended gathering took place last night at St. Mary’s Centre to update the community on our latest progress and get feedback and suggestions.

Lizzie Mickery opened the meeting and welcomed all. You can read her introduction here.

Sarah Hodgson followed with this speech and Peter Rollison gave us the financial report and update.

Lizzie then closed the meeting.

(Inbetween, Mike Harding showed some slides and photos of the new premises, highlighting the state they are in and financial investment needed to get them ship-shape.)

We will print out these texts and post them in the window of 1 Grassmere Parade soon.

Thanks to all who not only attended but also sent us good wishes if they couldn’t attend. Its heart-warming to know the community is alongside us.

SAVE FELPHAM VILLAGE POST OFFICE CAMPAIGN – EXCITING NEWS!!

AN OPEN MEETING WILL BE HELD ON TUESDAY AUGUST 13TH 2024, AT 7PM At ST MARY’S CENTRE, GRASSMERE CLOSE, FELPHAM PO22 7NU

THE FRIENDS OF FELPHAM CIC LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING ALL THE COMMUNITY TO UPDATE YOU ON THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS.

Thanks to you the Campaign has raised over £160,000. We were applying for a Government Levelling Up Grant to buy the Post Office Business and the building and believed we had a strong chance to achieve this. Then gloom set in as the grant process was put in ‘purdah’ during the election run up and has now been suspended by the new government. Even the last successful applicants from March ’24 have not been paid, so we realised there was every chance the grant would not be available again.

However, we have good news!! Thanks to a donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, we are now in a position to buy the Post Office Business itself without the building, which the Sub-Postmaster, has kindly agreed to.

Luckily, at the same time, the property on Grassmere Parade that traded as Corals became available to lease and we have first refusal. Grassmere is where the original village post office was located, the post office is coming home! This is a bright, airy space, large enough to house two post office counters, a banking hub and enlarged shop. It is still in the heart of the village with nearby parking and disabled access. The beating heart of the community remains, exactly there – in the centre of the village.

The contributions you have made are as vital as they ever were. They enable us to transform the space, transfer the business and finance the Post Office and shop until it is up and running. Costings suggest that in time, without the overheads of a building that needs constant maintenance, this will increase viability. Obviously, we will have to suspend some of our other plans in the short term – for example, the Community Hub, but we’re working on that. 

We intend to have an open meeting at St Mary’s Centre on Tuesday August 13th at 7pm to explain our plans in greater detail and take questions. All financial details will be available, financial and legal advice has been taken. Hopefully this meeting will be followed by an open day at the new shop at a later date! 

YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS – 

Anyone who contributed a £100 or more will receive one share in the CIC which entitles you to a voice and a vote at the annual AGM. If you wish to make up your contribution to £100, we would be very grateful.

If your contribution is £100 or over, you can now decide whether it is a donation or an interest free loan with the possibility of repayments over time depending on the profits of the business. If you would like more details or to opt for an interest free loan, please let us know at info@friendsoffelpham.org or ring 07788846919 and speak to Mike.

Saving our valuable Post Office for the Community was always the plan and we hope you are as pleased as we are.  We could not be doing this without you, your wonderful support and your contributions.  But of course, if you are unhappy with the new plan and are considering withdrawing your contribution, please contact us on the email address above or ring. As we need to finalise decisions on Grassmere Parade in the next couple of weeks, we would really appreciate it if you could respond before August 12th.

Thank you everyone, now we do have the opportunity to write our own story.

The Directors of Friends of Felpham Community Interest Company

Save Our Village Post Office, July 30^th 2024

We are delighted to confirm that Chris Watson is now presenting “A Journey South” on Saturday 27th July at 7PM (rearranged from 11th June @ St Mary’s Centre)

PLEASE NOTE*** NEW VENUE: The event will now take place at:

THE FELPHAM MEMORIAL VILLAGE HALL, 17-19 Vicarage Lane, Felpham PO22 7DZ

Location & directions