Oxford postbox to heaven offers comfort for loved ones

An Oxfordshire funeral home installed "postboxes to heaven" to collect letters to loved ones

A funeral directors has introduced "postboxes to heaven" to collect letters to deceased loved ones.

Jackson and Browning, in Oxfordshire, said anyone could leave a letter at one of their offices and it would be scattered with wildflower seeds.

Dana Jackson, whose brother owns the funeral directors, wrote a letter to her sister Kelly who had died in April 2020.

She said: "To be able to post something to a loved one is a bit of a comfort."

Dana Jackson lost her sister in 2020, and said posting a letter to a loved one is a "bit of a comfort"

Mrs Jackson's sister passed away after she had a cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage.

"We had to turn the machine off so that was obviously really heartbreaking," she said. "We never got the chance to say goodbye."

"It's hard for us as a family to come to terms with the loss of Kelly but I think being able to post a letter it gives you a bit of a comfort, that maybe she is around and she will see what we're doing."

Her brother Lee Jackson said a nine-year-old from Nottingham came up with the idea while she was processing the loss of her grandparents.

"It doesn't have to be anyone who has passed away recently, it can be a number of years ago," he said.

Anyone can post a note in the boxes next to their offices in Oxford and Faringdon and the team does not open any of the letters.

Mr Jackson said: "They're all very personal, there may be something that they want no one to read or maybe want to explain something that's gone on."

Once there is a substantial number of letters, they are collected and mixed with water and wildflower seeds which are scattered in the area.