Postal Museum to work on legacy project with victims of Post Office scandal

The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry has announced it will work with London's Postal Museum on an upcoming Legacy Project to mark the Horizon scandal.

The project, which was announced on 18 September, will be created alongside those affected by the Horizon scandal, and aims to ensure the impact on their lives is not forgotten. 

A group of 12 current and former sub-postmasters met the representatives from the inquiry and the Postal Museum with their family members to discuss their visions for the project and how the museum should be involved.

A focus group of sub-postmasters will continue to collaborate on the project to mark the scandal's place in history.

Leila Pilgrim, the inquiry’s secretary, said: “The Legacy Project will mark the Horizon scandal in our nation’s history, respecting the devastating impacts it has had on countless lives.”

“This is an important milestone, and I look forward to seeing the Postal Museum take forward this aspect of our Legacy Project work.”

The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is an independent statutory inquiry established to gather information about the failings of the Horizon IT system at the Post Office.

During the Horizon IT scandal, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted due to incorrect information on the computer system. Many of them went to prison for false accounting and theft. 

The inquiry has also hosted a series of engagement events to understand people’s views about the project.

It has also started a listening project, In Your Own Words, which invites those impacted by the scandal to share their stories and how their experiences impacted their lives. 

Laura Wright, the CEO of the Postal Museum, said she was “proud to be working with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and the focus group participants”.

“As an independent museum created to share the history of the postal network in Britain, stories of postal workers have always been essential to us,” she said.

“It is crucial that those affected by the Horizon scandal can tell their stories, in their own words, and that we help them reach as wide an audience as possible.”

Further details about the project will be announced soon.