<p>-
- I've run a post office from my front porch for 40 years</p>
<p>Pip Murrison - BBC Scotland NewsJune 24, 2025 at 3:16 PM</p>
<p>Sub-postmistress Kathleen Anderson has been running the remote Reawick Post Office in Shetland for more than 40 years [BBC]</p>
<p>When Kathleen Anderson was a young mum in the 1980s she converted her front porch into a post office.</p>
<p>It meant she could earn a little extra money as a sub-postmistress while juggling caring for her four young daughters.</p>
<p>Her role was a vital one in the remote Reawick area of Shetland, where local people depended on her for paying their pensions or their family allowance.</p>
<p>Now a grandmother of 10 and "the wrong side of 70", Kathleen is celebrating 40 years as Reawick's sub-postmistress.</p>
<p>Kathleen has brought up four daughters while running the post office [BBC]</p>
<p>She first opened her post office in June 1985 after former postmaster Peter Fraser died suddenly.</p>
<p>She told BBC Scotland News: "I thought it would be a little extra money, because I was home here looking after children at the time.</p>
<p>"In those days most of the women around here weren't going out to work, because you couldn't, you had to drive too far and there were no childminders."</p>
<p>Today, Kathleen continues to serve her remote community through the same hatch her brother-in-law built 40 years ago.</p>
<p>To get her attention, customers walk through her front door and ring a bell next to her serving window.</p>
<p>Kathleen's post office is a vital facility in rural Reawick [BBC]</p>
<p>In this remote part of the Westside of Shetland, there are no pubs or shops and the nearest post office to Kathleen's is about 10 miles away.</p>
<p>She said: "It's very handy for folk in the community, sometimes I might get a customer that would pop in for a cup of tea".</p>
<p>Her duties have changed significantly since she first opened four decades ago.</p>
<p>She said: "It's not as busy now - at one time all the local pensioners came here for their pensions and anyone with a family came here for their family allowance.</p>
<p>"But that's no longer the case as everybody gets their money put into the bank."</p>
<p>Listen to the latest news from BBC Radio Shetland</p>
<p>More news from NE Scotland, Orkney and Shetland</p>
<p>Kathleen has had to adapt to the introduction of the controversial Horizon IT system and the change in consumer habits.</p>
<p>She said: "I suppose now there's more returns, folk ordering online and returning parcels, there's more of that now, that never was the case before."</p>
<p>Over the years, the post office allowed Kathleen to maintain a career while "most of the young mothers in the area would have been doing knitting of some sort for a bit of extra income".</p>
<p>Family has always been at the heart of Reawick post office. Kathleen brought up her children and later cared for her grandchildren part time while running the business.</p>
<p>Now a grandmoter of 10, Kathleen has fond memories of running the post office whilst juggling childcare. [BBC]</p>
<p>She said: "They used to love it. My youngest grandson would love sitting up here [by the hatch]."</p>
<p>"When the customers came in he would try to put their cards in the machine for them."</p>
<p>Despite her many years of service, Kathleen has no intention of slowing down: "Well I'm over 70 and no I haven't had any thoughts of retiring yet.</p>
<p>"I thought when I was 70 it might be a good time to retire, but that didn't happen, then I thought 40 years of the post office – that would be a good time to retire, but, here I am and it's not happened yet.</p>
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