'Letters to heaven' post boxes help grieving families

Joanne Jones is a trustee of Community Spirit, which purchased the post boxes

Bereaved families can send "letters to heaven" thanks to a charity's post box donations.

The Community Spirit charity, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has bought two post boxes which have been installed at the town's two cemeteries, Stephenson Way and West.

Letters posted by grieving family members will be turned into compost and used on flower beds in the cemeteries.

Community Spirit trustee Joanne Jones said writing letters could help people with the bereavement process.

Two post boxes have been installed at cemeteries in Newton Aycliffe

Ms Jones said she was inspired by a similar initiative a few miles away in a Bishop Auckland cemetery and thought it would be ideal for Newton Aycliffe.

She said it was "massively important" for the town.

"It can help a lot of people with the bereavement process, having somewhere to write," she said.

"We have a lot of people now who don't necessarily have a grave, but they've got somewhere now to come to where they can put their thoughts and feelings down and send it to loved ones."

Lee Williams thinks writing letters will provide another outlet for people's grief

Lee Williams, who is the grounds maintenance services coordinator for Great Aycliffe Town Council, feels the post boxes are "another outlet for people to field their grief".

He hopes it will be beneficial for young children, "who often struggle with the grieving process".

"They can now send birthday cards, Christmas cards, letters to grandad or whoever it may be and the idea that these children and adults can actually put the words down in paper and not be judged by what they're writing, or what they're saying... it just hopefully gives them that sense of relief," he said.

The contents of the post boxes will be periodically emptied by the town council and stored confidentially.

The letters will be shredded and put into their own compost bin which will be used to feed the flowers and plants across the two cemeteries.