Burnham postman dresses up for deliveries to raise money for Britwell Youth Centre

A postman has been lifting spirits in his neighbourhood by dressing up for his deliveries and raising money for a youth centre.

Steve Martin, 45, has been dressing up as the Super Mario Brothers, Darth Vader, Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear, Deadpool and a Queen’s Guard while doing his daily deliveries.

“I dress up every year during Christmas as an elf, so I thought why not do it now during lockdown and help cheer up and put a smile on local residents faces,” he said.

The Royal Mail does not allow employees to wear fancy dress unless they are raising money for a charity so Steve decided to support the Britwell Youth and Community Project (BYCP).

“I wanted to raise money for the BYCP because it’s a community charity,” he told the Express.

The youth club in Wentworth Avenue has provided a plethora of leisurely activities to children and young people for more than 60 years.

Centre manager Paula Murphy is extremely grateful for Steve’s ‘kind fundraising support’ on behalf of ‘our young people, volunteers, staff and trustees.’

She added: “We rely heavily on donations, grants and fundraising to make up our yearly £32k shortfall to run BYCP to its full capacity in order to keep children and young people ‘off the streets’ and involved in positive activities.

“We are very grateful and we thank all of the local residents who have donated also to Royal Mail who have kindly allowed Steve to put a smile on faces in the local community and raise much needed funds at the same time.”

Speaking to the Express about his most popular outfit, Steve said: “There’s a lot of love for Mario and Luigi.”

He recalled the most special response he received since starting dressing up in which a woman told him her grandson has started writing letters to his cousin ‘so that they can see me.’

Steve, who lives in Burnham with his wife and eight-year-old daughter Sophie, has been buying the costumes on eBay.

“I am going to keep going until lockdown is over,” he said.