Sending mail to someone who's homeless

[UnknownArts]

First of all, this is a serious post so please no smart alec comments/taking the piss please. I has the worst response on another London message board, but hopefully this ones better and since Royal Mail folk use it, it might actually get me a concrete response.

I know someone who is homeless and I need to send her a package, is there anyway I can mail it to a post office local to her for her to then go and pick up? She has very much resisted any help from me but has finally agreed to some so I wanted to send her some things but obviously with no address she can't receive anything.

Is it possible for her to collect the package from a post office or will it not work? If so, what is the process.
Does anyone know if hostels can receive mail for people staying there? That way I could send her the package there when she next stays in one.

Any help or advice would be appreciated, its a desperate situation.

Thank you for your time.

[coxie]

I believe it is, we used to get requests on our roud that if people were out they had asked for packages to be left at the local post office instead or returned to the Royal Mail office. If you're just sending a parcel to a post office you should maybe get your friend to pop in and have a word so they are expecting it as it will have their address on they will wonder who it's for. Your friend might need some id though.

[Minischoles]

Poste Restante may be the service you wish to go for - it's primarily for people travelling, but it could work in this instance as well. It needs the agreement of the Post Office first however, but generally they will agree to it - your recipient then just needs to travel in with ID and they can pick things up.

[wannabeek]

I used the poste restante service for a year when i was backpack withno fixed address. Used it all over the world without difficulties, needed id obviously though. Here's a link with more info: http://www.postoffice.co.uk/poste-restante" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Edit* It never occurred to me that i should have checked with each post office first. I used dozens of them all over the place, just turned up with my id and asked if they had any poste restante for me.

[Lounge Lizard]

Just address it
- Her name
- Poste Restante
- ****** Post Office
- Address
.
I'm not sure if proof of identity is essential but if, being homeless, she doesn't have any try addressing it to "The woman with ....." and then some identifying feature, hair, etc.
And maybe a 'phone call to the Post office when you post it to explain would help.
Good luck, and lets hope her fortunes improve before long.

[UnknownArts]

Thank you guys so much for your help. Don't know why I didn't post on here to begin with!

Just spoke to her local post office and they do Poste Restante, so she will receive the package tomorrow. She is homeless, but she does have ID so it will be fine.

Again, thank you! Hopefully her situation will improve now that she has let her friends try and help her.