Matthew was up early to visit the Royal Mail sorting office in Edgware to see how the Christmas rush was being handled. 

The festive season is Royal Mail’s busiest period as millions of people shop online for gifts and send Christmas cards and parcels. The office in Rectory Lane handles all the post covering the HA8 postcode - the Edgware, Hale and Burnt Oak Council wards as well as Canons Park and Queensbury on the other side of the A5. 

Opening at 3:15AM, over 60 Royal Mail employees begin by sorting the post into routes before making a further selection into a ‘walksort’ where one person can take a route making deliveries along the way. In recent years the number of letters posted has declined as the use of electronic mail has become widely used but the increase in online shopping has created a huge market in the delivery of packages. This has created complications but the Royal Mail has evolved to accommodate this new form of consumerism.

Matthew said “The work of the Royal Mail is so important to all of us. We think nothing of the efforts that have been put into the delivery of our letters and packages, particularly at Christmas and I was pleased to be able to visit.

“On the exit of the office in Edgware there is a sign that says ‘People rely on us’ and I certainly agree with that. So on behalf of all the people of the Hendon constituency I thanked all those who work day after day our making deliveries.”