11 November 2006 - A local newspaper has started a campaign to nominate Roger Annies for Royal Mail's First Class People award.
In August postman Roger Annies hit the headlines when it was revealed that he had been disciplined for delivering a leaflet to households on his round giving instructions on how to stop junk mail. He was suspended when his actions came to the notice of Royal Mail managers who said their 'door-to-door service' (the delivery of unsolicited mail) was vital to business. In September Mr Annies lost his round and was given a backroom job instead.
After learning about the First Class People award, the Barry and District News started their own campaign to encourage their readers to nominate Mr Annies.
According to their website, the Royal Mail "would like to hear stories about 1st Class postmen and women who are charity fundraisers in their spare time, or have performed a public-spirited act or dealt with an emergency while doing their deliveries".
The newspaper felt Mr Annies fitted that role. Richard Gurner, a reporter at the paper explained: "There was such a national outcry about what happened to Roger Annies that we thought it was appropriate and important to try and get people to nominate him for this award. What he did hit such a nerve right across the board.
"He let the customers on his round know how to avoid unaddressed junk mail and by doing so helped to improve the public image of Royal Mail as an environmentally friendly company. But he was suspended for his trouble, despite a lot of support from the customers.
"I can't see why he wouldn't be in with a good chance for getting an award because the people on his round showed their support by starting a petition and I can't see why they wouldn't nominate him for this award."
A spokesman for Royal Mail said they would not be commenting on the campaign being run by the Barry and District News.