Nine-year-old girl’s ‘postbox to heaven’ installed at local crematorium

The youngster came up with the idea as a way to help her grieve when her grandparents passed away

A crematorium in Nottinghamshire has installed a 'postbox to heaven' aimed at encouraging people to write letters to loved ones who have passed away. The idea was that of nine-year-old Matilda Handy who wanted to send letters to her grandparents, who have both died. The letterbox was then installed at Gedling Crematorium in December, and has already received almost 100 'Letters to Heaven,' ITV Central reports. [caption id="attachment_374205" align="alignnone" width="590"]
The 'postbox to heaven' was installed at Gedling Crematorium in the buildup to Christmas (Gedling Crematorium/Facebook)[/caption] Matilda and her mum hope that the postbox remains as a permanent feature at the crematorium so that people can send letters on days such as anniversaries and birthdays throughout the year. Speaking to ITV Central, the youngster explained that writing letters to her grandparents helped her grieve, and allowed her to express her feelings in a different way. She said: "It was very nice because 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. https://www.facebook.com/GedlingCrematorium/posts/pfbid0CcoRvJi3qMec6qPSugWC7ATqR42jNExcXQLqsPthG6JDaKztP5fuckNHf9aLwoKKl Her mother Leanne explained that the reaction from the local community has been overwhelmingly positive, with many coming up to her and her daughter asking if they can use the letterbox as well. The site manager at Gedling Crematorium, Giulia McDonough, said: "Like all Westerleigh Group's sites, it's our aim to have a very positive presence within our local communities, and I am delighted that the Letters to Heaven post box seems to have captured the imagination - and interest - of many people. "We put a post about it on our Facebook page on 12 December, showing an image of the post box in situ, and within just a couple of days we had more than 16,000 people viewing the message and nearly 1,000 liking it."

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