Girl’s ‘postbox to heaven’ idea to be rolled out at crematorium in Aylesbury

Matilda Handy, 9, with her postbox to heaven, which is coming to Aylesbury. Photo: SWNS

A young girl’s ‘postbox to heaven’ idea is set to be rolled out at a crematorium in Aylesbury.

A crematorium company will soon set up ‘postboxes to heaven’ to let people send letters to their lost loved ones, thanks to a heartwarming idea by a nine-year-old.

Grieving Matilda Handy, from Nottingham, came up with the heartwarming idea when she wanted to look for a way to express her emotions after her grandparents died.

The schoolgirl first thought of it when her post office worker grandmother Pat died in 2017, before she also sadly lost her grandad Keith last November. Her mum, Leanne, then approached her bosses at Gedling Crematorium in Lambley, which is owned by the Westerleigh Group – which runs the Aylesbury Vale Crematorium on Watermead in Aylesbury.

The firm responded by installing an old postbox painted white just before Christmas, leading to more than 100 letters being posted. Westerleigh is now introducing the boxes to all of its 36 UK sites – including Aylesbury – as well as three new ones due to open later this year, after seeing Matilda’s tribute to her grandparents proved so popular.

Leanne said: "My mum and dad are in heaven and so we’re sending them letters in heaven. My mum passed away in 2017 and since then Matilda has always said she wishes we could send cards and letters to her mama in heaven. My mum worked in a post office for 25 years in our local community and it just seemed fitting for her.

“Matilda was so used to being around post boxes and letters and always wanted to send mama one."

Matilda hopes it can aid others dealing with grief and was the first to use the postbox to send a letter containing a moving poem which read: "If heaven had a phone, Then I’d give you a ring. Just hear your voice and tell you, How my day has been.

"But it doesn’t have a phone, To make missing you better, So instead I write my feelings down. And send them in a letter. I know that you’ll be watching, As I write down every word, And I’ll feel it when you reply, The unwritten and unheard."