Royal Mail strikes have left youngsters with no signal of their promised letter from Father Christmas as some houses have now gone weeks with out receiving deliveries.
1000’s of households throughout the nation have been hit by Royal Mail strikes this week after greater than 100,000 postmen walked out on Wednesday and Thursday.
Now the backlog has left many households fearing that their ‘devastated’ youngsters won’t get the reply from Santa they’re ready for.
Yearly, the NSPCC charity runs a ‘Letter from Santa’ service the place mother and father can order a observe for his or her youngsters which arrives within the submit ‘straight from the North Pole’.
A drone shot exhibits mountains of parcels piling up outdoors a Royal Mail sorting workplace as staff proceed to strike over pay
Greater than 100,000 postmen walked out on Wednesday and Thursday leaving 1000’s of households with out their deliveries
Mother and father can personalise the letter with the kid’s title, their pursuits and what they want for Christmas.
‘It may well convey pleasure to youngsters of all ages and the marvel of their eyes might be a very particular second as they open their very personal personalised letter and skim all the small print that solely Santa might know – like their age, the place they reside and their favorite exercise,’ the NSPCC says.
However amid chaos in Royal Mail depots – which has seen cages and cages of deliveries pile up and entice rodents – mother and father have inundated the charity on-line with complaints that their little one’s reply from the North Pole nonetheless has not arrived.
Households have mentioned that letters they ordered way back to October nonetheless haven’t been delivered and worry they’ve been misplaced within the submit.
One mom contacted the NSPCC for assistance on social media, saying: ‘I’m worrying about it [being] lacking due to Royal Mail strikes.
Households have mentioned that letters they ordered way back to October nonetheless haven’t been delivered and worry they’ve been misplaced within the submit. Postmen are set to walkout on Friday, December, 23 and Saturday, December, 24
‘That is [my] ten-year-old’s final Santa Xmas (as Santa doesn’t come when [he’s] in secondary college…) so might be devastated to not obtain [his] remaining letter which I ordered in October!’
One other mentioned: ‘I had two dispatched [on] December 1 and nonetheless not acquired. ‘My son retains saying I’m wondering after we will get our letter from Father Christmas. Hope they arrive quickly.’
One other mentioned they ordered a letter on December 1 and have ‘heard nothing’, including: ‘I’m [going to] assume they aren’t [going to] arrive by Christmas,’ adopted by a tragic face emoji.
The NSPCC apologised to all of the mother and father for the delay which they admitted was as a result of Royal Mail strike.
‘We’re sorry to listen to your letter hasn’t arrived but. There have been delays as a result of Royal Mail strikes, so if it’s been lower than ten days because you acquired your “your letter is on its method” e mail, please maintain watching your letterbox,’ the charity mentioned on social media.
Yesterday was Royal Mail’s earliest-ever postage deadline for top notch mail to make it in time for Christmas, as some households have reported not receiving any submit for weeks.
It comes as additional strikes are set to trigger extra postal chaos on Friday December 23 and Saturday December 24, when postmen will stroll out once more.
An NSPCC spokesman mentioned: ‘Letter from Santa is all about bringing Christmas magic into youngsters’s lives while serving to the NSPCC’s Childline service proceed to be right here for kids over the festive season.
‘We’re grateful to everybody who has ordered a letter, however we perceive that many households might be involved about their letter not arriving in time for Christmas given the present postal strikes.
‘We’re sending all our letters from Santa as shortly as attainable and introduced ahead the final really helpful order date this 12 months, to permit for any attainable delays.
‘All letters ought to be with supporters within the coming days, however within the unlikely occasion that one in every of our letters doesn’t arrive in time, you’ll obtain it’s as a PDF so you may obtain or print your letter at house, so your little one nonetheless has that magical second discovering out that Santa is aware of all about them earlier than Christmas day.’
A Royal Mail spokesman mentioned: ‘Christmas is our busiest time of 12 months. The CWU’s deliberate strike motion is holding Christmas to ransom for our clients, companies and households throughout the nation.
‘We apologise for any delays our clients might expertise on account of CWU strike motion.
‘We’re doing all the pieces we are able to to ship Christmas for our clients, and want to thank the rising variety of posties returning to work every strike day, non permanent staff and managers from throughout the enterprise who’re serving to to maintain the mail shifting.’
