Day 3 #InYourShoes… delivering the post in Baillieston & Garrowhill

Although I’m no stranger to going door-to-door for canvassing or delivering leaflets, I was glad to have the opportunity to do some work experience with Royal Mail for day three #InYourShoes.

Readers will know that our main sorting office for the East End is based on Fullarton Drive, just south of London Road. So, if you’re not home and a parcel can’t be delivered to a neighbour, then that’s where you’d normally go to collect it. But that’s not all that happens at the sorting office.

For the main part, this is where millions of items of mail pass through each year and are sorted into runs, ready for delivery by our local posties.

When I arrived for my shift, I was paired up with Alex McDougall, who’s been working for Royal Mail since he was sixteen. He also started life in Cranhill, so that was a pleasant surprise!

Alex’s run largely includes Baillieston Main Street – where the majority of mail goes to local businesses – and a significant number of residential addresses in Garrowhill.

Before we headed out, Alex was hard at work, lifting huge quantities of letters and parcels off of his ‘frame’ (where the mail is sorted into addresses) and packing them into countless iconic red Royal Mail bags.

Despite an obvious reduction in the number of letters and cards passing through the mail system, it was quite something to see just how much of that space in the sorting office is now taken up with parcels and packages.

Alex clearly knows his run inside-out and it was impressive to see just how he packed everything into the van, essentially meaning that it’s easier for him to locate parcels and bags for each area.

Out in Garrowhill with experienced postie Alex McDougall

To give you an idea of his level of organisation, Alex has worked exactly which addresses to park his van, so he can get back and collect another bag before moving on to the next walk sort route. I don’t know if that’s a symptom of privatisation or just how Alex ticks but it’s clear that efficiency is a huge aspect of the job.

I still believe that privatisation was the wrong decision for Royal Mail but that’s a political view and #InYourShoes isn’t really about politics. One thing that heartened me, though, is that Alex is undoubtedly still the friendly, well known postie everyone has come to respect and he’s built up a strong relationship with residents and businesses.

Whilst I absolutely love #InYourShoes, I’m always worried that I’m getting under people’s feet when they’re trying to get on with their work, so I was glad when Alex handed me a few large piles of letters and set me off on a run of my own.

One of the real takeaways I got from this experience was how much more people can do to make a postie’s job just that bit easier.

For example, if you’ve got a boisterous or unsettled dog who doesn’t do well with strangers, it’s wise not to let it run loose in the garden. Likewise, if you don’t want your mail to be chewed, then it’s advisable to get a basket or dog guard box on your door.

Injuries, sadly, aren’t uncommon for posties, so make sure that any loose tiles at your front door are repaired and, if you’ve got decking, make sure it’s not too slippy or grimey – particularly in the winter months.

Lastly – and this is a message as much for all political activists as well as other delivering flyers – make sure you post your leaflets all the way through the letterbox. Leaving leaflets half-in, half-out a letter box can be a signal to burglars that no-one’s home. It also creates extra effort for our hard-working posties who deserve our respect and support! So let’s make sure we do all we can to support our posties.