Royal Mail : takes on its youngest employee to date in a bid to help “postman” eight-year old Mason White raise money for Stroke Association

Royal Mail will be giving a helping hand to eight-year old Mason White when he becomes the youngest 'postman' in the country as he aims to raise £1,000 for the Stroke Association by December 2016.

Mason, from Welling in Kent, whose dad is a Royal Mail manager in central London, aims to carry out a variety of different Royal Mail roles across the country. These include being a postman for the day to raise cash for a cause close to his family's heart, while raising awareness of strokes in children.

Royal Mail will provide matched funding up to £25,000 to help Mason raise funds for the Stroke Association.

A stroke survivor himself, Mason suffered a stroke at birth, and had several more seizures in the days that followed. He has spent much of his young life in and out of hospital. Mason has bravely overcome this early setback and has now become a determined fundraiser for the Stroke Association. He also aims to raise awareness of strokes in young people to help other child survivors.

To raise money, Mason, in his own specially-made Royal Mail Uniform, will be visiting a number of Royal Mail sites during his school half-term week (24 - 28 October 2016). During these visits he will help Royal Mail process and deliver letters and parcels, as well as international mail, at a different site each day. Royal Mail colleagues at those sites will also be holding raffles, bucket collections and bake sales to help Mason towards his fundraising total.

Mason's fundraising challenge will start in Manchester Mail Centre on 24 October 2016. He will then travel to Royal Mail sites in Birmingham, Daventry, Parcelforce Worldwide's national and international hub in Coventry, Royal Mail's international mail centre at Heathrow and finishing in London on 28 October 2016 at the Central London Mail Centre at Mount Pleasant, where his dad Francis White works.

Mason White said: 'I'm hoping to raise £1,000 and I think we can do it. It's really important because raising money could help a lot of people. I'm proud I had this opportunity. I would have loved to visit every Royal Mail site but I only had one week off!'

Tony Fox, Royal Mail's Regional Operations Director, said: 'We're delighted to be able to give Mason a helping hand to fundraise for such a good cause and raise awareness of strokes amongst children as well as adults. At each site he visits, he'll be able to help us process mail and deliver letters and parcels to our customers, just as our postmen and women do across the country six days a week.

Jim Swindells, Director of Fundraising at the Stroke Association, said: 'In the UK, someone has a stroke every three and a half minutes, and we rely on the generosity of our incredible fundraisers like Mason and his family. Through their support, we can be there for people who are living with the devastation that stroke can bring. We're incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated their time and vital funds to make this challenge possible and help us conquer stroke.'

For further information contact:

Sally Hopkins, Royal Mail press office

Tel: 020 3338 1007/07801 094345

Email: press.office@royalmail.com

Notes to Editors

• Royal Mail aims to raise £2 million for the Stroke Association over two years as part of a Charity of the Year partnership, with every penny helping the charity to provide Life After Stroke Grants to 10,000 stroke survivors and their families. These grants fund equipment to give stroke survivors more independence and support as they take their first steps back into the community.
• Every year, an estimated 400 children in the UK will experience a stroke. The term 'childhood stroke' covers from the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy up to the age of 18.
• 200 babies a year have a stroke at birth and the impact of stroke on children varies depending on the part of the brain affected and the damage it has caused. Children can have problems with movement, speech, experience pain, seizures, visual problems and develop behavioural or learning difficulties.
• Childhood stroke does not just affect children, but can affect the whole family; parents can feel overwhelmed, shocked and isolated and other children in the family may not understand what is happening and find it upsetting and confusing.
• It is possible for children to recover from a stroke. However it takes time, rehabilitation and therapies to support the best recovery possible.
• There are over 1.2 million people living with stroke in the UK:

o England: over 980,000 people

o Northern Ireland: over 34,000 people

o Scotland: over 120,000 people

o Wales: over 64,000 people