I popped into the local sorting office today to pick up a letter that the post office told me should have been stamped as a large letter. When I got there they showed me an A5 envelope, that clearly held a letter to a child in Africa, and included a £1 coin. We then demonstrated that the envelope fitted through the small letter slot.

But, to my surprise the manager would not let me have the letter without paying the £1.19 fine. She told me that a small letter had to be landscape, not portrait. (see this diagramme)

After some discussion I asked her to use her discretion as it was plainly not acceptable for a charity like Grassroots to spend £1.19 in order to receive a donation of £1. It may be a small amount of money, but the principle of administration being small in comparison to the amount raised and spent on the purpose of a charity is clearly understood in the UK these days.

But poor Kerry. She let the world down. More than her jobsworth. Not her responsibility. So a child in Africa is not getting a letter from her sponsor or the small donation (from a UK perspective) that would have made her month! I think Royal Mail need to train their staff better!