by Faith Eckersall

A special postbox has been unveiled in Dorset – so people can ‘post’ letters to loved-ones who have died.

The ‘Letters to heaven’ white postbox is located next to the Snowdrop Garden for babies and children in Poole Cemetery. It was organised by Dorset charity Tyler’s Friends, which helps bereaved parents with the cost of memorials and funerals for children and babies.

Money for the postbox was raised via the charity, with help from the family of baby Aria-Rose, who died in April 2018 and who was laid to rest with her great-grandfather in Poole cemetery.

She will also be remembered with a plaque in her honour, next to the postbox.
One of the joint founders of Tyler’s Friends, Kirsten Rust, said people had contacted her about the idea, after a TV news item about a similar initiative earlier this year went viral.

The original white postbox in Gedling Crematorium, Nottinghamshire, was the brainchild of nine-year-old Matilda Handy, who wanted somewhere to post letters to her late grandparents. She said at the time: “I’m very upset and it’s just a very nice way to express my feelings and send a letter to them and to say how much I love them”.

Kirsten said: “When the story came out, a lot of people tagged our charity on Facebook.

“I wasn’t too sure at first, but then one of the mums we’d helped with a memorial asked if she could help get us one, so I put it out to people to see what they thought.”
She thanked the family of Aria-Rose for donating the postbox in her memory.
“To anyone else who donated, your money has been put to excellent use helping our many families,” she said.

Despite its location, the postbox is, said Kirsten, for: “Anyone who wants to write a letter to someone they love who has died, they don’t have to be laid to rest in Poole cemetery.
“We wouldn’t want to exclude anyone.”

She said the charity and cemetery service would decide between them what to do with the letters to heaven and agree upon a caring way of dealing with them.

More information from: tylersfriends.co.uk.