Belton: Olympic Gold Postbox To Stay!

2 November 2012, 10:59 | Updated: 2 November 2012, 11:22

The postboxes painted gold to celebrate the London 2012 medalists - will stay that colour forever. Including one for one of the region's paralympians.

It means the one for 16 year old swimmer Jessica Jane Applegate in Belton in Norfolk will stay as a landmark for the village.

In a statement they said: the post boxes it painted over the summer to celebrate the gold medals of Team GB and ParalympicsGB will be remaining gold on a permanent basis. This includes the gold post box on Station Road South in Belton, celebrating Jessica-Jane Applegate's Paralympic Gold medal in the Swimming: Women's 200m Freestyle - S14.

Exactly 110 have been painted across the UK. Each post box will have a plaque which names the athlete and marks their gold medal achievement. The post boxes have now become cherished local landmarks, with many members of the public visiting them and circulating pictures of them on social media channels. The location of every box can be seen at www.goldpostboxes.com along with many pictures uploaded by visitors.

Painting the iconic post boxes gold was a part of Royal Mail's plans to honour the victories of Team GB and ParalympicsGB, along with the gold medal stamps programme. Royal Mail was the first postal administration to produce stamps for every gold medallist in both Games. The stamps can still be bought online from www.royalmail.com.

The decision to keep the post boxes gold marks the first time in Royal Mail's history that it has painted its iconic post boxes a different colour permanently to mark an historic achievement.

Moya Greene, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Mail Group, said; "We are delighted at the way people took to this simple idea. "The gold postboxes gave communities even more opportunity to mark the successes of Team GB and Paralympics GB - and became a part of local celebrations of London 2012 across the UK. I am pleased to confirm that these postboxes will be kept gold permanently."

Related Articles:

http://www.heart.co.uk/norfolk/news/local/gold-postbox-local-swimmer/

http://www.heart.co.uk/norfolk/news/local/gorleston-parade-local-paralympian/