‘Somewhere in Sheffield’

A colleague's detective skills have been praised after a parcel addressed solely with the customer’s name plus ‘somewhere in Sheffield,’ managed to make its way from Sweden to South Yorkshire.

Freelance sports reporter David Easson, from Sheffield, said a friend sent him a small parcel from Scandinavia, but didn't know his exact address.

So instead of simply asking, the sender, a Marten Wedebrand, wrote all the information he knew about Mr Easson on the parcel, including his wife's name, his previous jobs and that ‘they have a child, or dog, or both.’ He also included a message for colleagues, stating that the parcel contained ‘vital survival stuff’.

‘Dear British post’, the message read. ‘I do not know Mr Easson’s address, but this envelope includes vital survival stuff for him. OK, maybe not vital, but let us Swedes make someone in the UK happy even though he lives in Sheffield.’

Amazingly, postman of 30 years, Darrell Gilmour, from Sheffield Mail Centre, put his amateur detective skills to the test and managed to find Mr Easson on Facebook. He then messaged him to request his address in what Mr Easson said was a ‘great bit of detective work.’

Mr Easson said that Marten Wedebrand had heard him on the radio many years ago. ‘He really could’ve just asked for my address,’ he told The Star. ‘Instead he put a rather garbled CV of mine on an envelope.’

He said the first he heard about his parcel was when Darrell messaged him on Facebook.

‘That was a surprise,’ he said. ‘I know they're working really hard at such a difficult time. I felt a bit bad that my crazy Swedish friend hadn't just asked for my address!

‘I was amazed it got to Sheffield to be honest. Marten put enough stamps on! For (Darrell) to take time out to get on Facebook and find me was great. I just want postal workers to know they are very much appreciated at this time.’

As it turns out, the ‘vital survival stuff’ amounted to six packets of Kvikk Lunsj - a chocolate bar similar to a KitKat.

‘I had these in Norway when I was working at the Youth Olympics in 2012,’ added Mr Easson. ‘I’ve hankered after them ever since.

‘It’s typical of Marten, but fair play to Darrell. At this time, there’s so much pressure on them, so to find me like this.’

‘We get a lot of mail with very vague addresses,’ said Darrell. ‘But it’s not often you get so much information about the person it’s meant for.

‘It was actually quite easy to find David on Facebook and get in touch. We do try our best to get all mail to its intended destination.’