'Letters to Heaven' post box aims to help mourners

A funeral directing business has installed a post box outside its premises for mourners to post letters to their deceased loved ones.

Chris White Funeral Directors, in Wilton, Wiltshire, said the Letters to Heaven post box had been designed to help with the healing process.

Painted in white with gold letters, it is accessible at all times outside the business. The post will eventually be composted, remaining unopened and unread.

Funeral director Sophie Nias-Cooper, who came up with the idea, said: "It's all about the grieving process and acceptance."

Ms Nias-Cooper told told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "Studies have shown that you feel better by writing your thoughts and feelings down, good or bad.

"No-one will ever read them, they will go into the post box and eventually be shredded and composted, so there's no shame, you can just put down your feelings on paper."

Ms Nias-Cooper was encouraged by the response to the new post box, both online and in person.

"People on the street have said lovely things. People on social media, such as Facebook, they've said the same lovely things. People have also tagged their friends.

"We've had one letter and, from the writing on the envelope, it looks like it is from a child, which is lovely.

"We've also had people who have lost partners, friends, children – all walks of life, all ages," she added.

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