October 15, 2021 8.39 am This story is over 29 months old

Loyal Lincolnshire man awarded for 30 years’ service at village Post Office

Shop was ‘lifeline’ to community during pandemic

Andy Blagojevitch has served the community for three decades.

A man from Middle Rasen who has clocked up 30 years of service at the village Post Office, has been given an award for his dedication to the community.

Andy Blagojevitch, the postmaster for Middle Rasen Post Office, has been presented with a long service award by Post Office area manager Joanne Fryatt.

Andy worked as a manager for Sainsbury’s before taking over the Post Office and Crossroads Stores in 1991. He now runs the business with wife Erica and their son Nicholas.

During the pandemic they were incredibly busy as customers wanted to stay local and people were working from home. Andy also started a free grocery delivery service for the elderly in the village.

The Post Office was really busy too with parcels being sent to loved ones, ebay and home shopping returns. And there was also a lot more banking on behalf of all the high street banks.

Andy said: “During the pandemic it was tremendously busy with shop sales up 100%. It really showed how important the village shop and Post Office are to the community.

“It was exhausting as we had to work hard to source stock for the shop from a number of places to meet customer demand. The last 18 months have been very tiring, but we got lots of cards and thank you comments from lots of customers, which made us feel really appreciated.”

Andy is now looking to retire and has put the business on the market.

Post Office area manager, Joanne Fryatt, said: “Andy has been dedicated to serving the Middle Rasen community for 30 years. He has worked hard throughout this time, but he and his family really went the extra mile during the pandemic to make sure that the elderly and the whole village were well catered for during these tricky last 18 months.”