Thank you Ivan

Congratulations to Omagh postman Ivan Gilmour who, this week, celebrated a hugely impressive 40 years of service at Royal Mail.

At a long-service presentation at Omagh Delivery Office, colleagues gave Ivan a warm round of applause.

Omagh delivery office manager Paul Devlin, said: ‘During his presentation Ivan spoke a few words and stated how much he had enjoyed working for Royal Mail over the past 40 years.

‘Ivan is currently the vice-chairman of the Omagh cancer charity, Care for Cancer and he gives up almost all his spare time to support local people suffering from this terrible condition.

‘He has asked colleagues to help support a special initiative in aid of the charity, which he has called the “40-year challenge.” He is welcoming everyone willing to perform a four-mile sponsored walk in September to help mark his 40 years of service and raise funds for Care for Cancer.

‘Ivan and his family have faced personal challenges regarding cancer, so this is his way of giving back to a very worthwhile cause.’

Ivan said that it’s a great achievement to reach the 40-year milestone. ‘I think to be honest with you I couldn’t have had a better employer than Royal Mail over them 40 years,’ he said.

‘All the changes I’ve seen over the past 40 years have been for the better. I started doing telegrams as a telegram boy on a heavy black bicycle all those years ago. Mechanised mail makes such a difference.

‘Back then, I could never have imagined the sheer volume of parcels we see nowadays coming into the office from online shopping.’