How newspaper roundsman kept us all informed during lockdown
Stephen Easter, 67, of Hickling, an old-school newspaper roundsman, running a team of people delivering about 8,000 a week. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2020
Keeping people supplied with their daily newspapers has been a challenge for roundsman Stephen Easter.
Stephen Easter, 67, of Hickling, an old-school newspaper roundsman, running a team of people delivering about 8,000 a week. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2020
Mr Easter, 67, has run S&V News for the past 22 years, delivering more than 8,000 newspapers each week to people in Wroxham, Hoveton, Stalham and surrounding villages.
And although the job has evolved over the past two decades, Mr Easter said nothing had compared to the huge changes 2020 had brought.
The Hickling resident said: “We needed to work out new ways of doing things – sorting the papers, getting people to pay differently. It was basically about using common sense.
“Once we got over the first few weeks it wasn’t so bad.”
Stephen Easter, 67, of Hickling, an old-school newspaper roundsman, running a team of people delivering about 8,000 a week. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2020
Mr Easter has a team of about seven people, who pick up the papers from his distribution centre in Wroxham before delivering them to customers in almost 30 towns and villages, including many aged care homes and HM Prison Bure.
More than half of his roughly 900 customers are of retirement age and many had been told to shield, so Mr Easter said he was happy to be able to help as it meant they did not have to go to the shops to buy their daily paper.
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He delivers a range of papers including the Eastern Daily Press and North Norfolk News, as well as national titles.
Mr Easter said he was delivering about the same number of papers as he was before the lockdown.
Stephen Easter, 67, of Hickling, an old-school newspaper roundsman, running a team of people delivering about 8,000 a week. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2020
He said: “Because lots of businesses were shut they couldn’t have their papers delivered but we picked up other customers, so we broke even.
“Early on it was difficult because people were nervous about going around delivering.
“But we started using gloves, masks, hand sanitiser to make it safe – just basically doing what the government said.
“It was a very big change to start with but now we’re used to it.”
Mr Easter is looking for another newspaper delivery person to join his team who has their own transport and can deliver around the Wroxham/Hoveton area.
He said it was a role that suited semi-retired people, as deliverers typically worked from 6am to 8.30am.
Anyone interested can call him on 01692 598159 or 07557978430.
