VOLUNTEERS at an award-winning community bookshop have 10,000 reasons to celebrate after helping scores of causes in the upper dale.
The Village Bookshop, in Middleton-in-Teesdale, has raised £10,000 since it was opened in 2011, much of which has gone to fund projects in the village as well as Forest and Frith, and Eggleston.
Run as a charitable trust by a platoon of about 20 volunteers the bookshop was started by the village’s former vicar Chris Elliot and his
wife, Micky, after Middleton’s original bookshop closed down.
After they left the village, other volunteers have kept it going.
Trustee Anne Beckett said: “We are all volunteers and every penny we make goes to charity.”
Despite the help it has given over the years, trustee Pauline Black believes few people in the village know how it works. Most of the store’s income is generated from walkers and tourists during the summer months. Mrs Black said: “From Easter on it gets really busy. We always keep some money in the bank to get us through the quiet time.
“A lot of our books are donated and most of our fiction is £1 to £1.50. Nothing is very expensive. We also have new stuff.” Occasionally the shop gets some rare items to sell, including antiquarian books. In its current inventory is a first edition of Some Ghost Stories by AM Burrage which was printed in 1927 and is marked at £150.
Also significant is a complete reproduction set of 32 hardback books by Charles Dickens from his 1875 editions, published by Chapman and Hall Fabbri in 2004. The like-new set is valued at about £250.
Mrs Black explained that not only do volunteers man the shop in shifts from 10am to 1pm and 1pm to 4pm from Monday through to Saturday, but they also have specific duties such as researching book values, which is done by Derek Sims.
Aside from books the shop also sells greeting cards, CDs, DVDS, wrapping paper, postcards, small gifts, maps and guides.
Mrs Black said: “Our cards are very reasonable. We try to keep everything as low as possible.”
Through their extensive network of contacts, the bookshop can also source books for customers.
So far cash raised by the shop has gone to help Middleton Sports and Social Club, Middleton Rainbows and Brownies, Middleton-in-Bloom, the primary school and Middleton and Teesdale Band. The village hall and Christmas lights committees have also benefited.
Anyone who would like to get involved with the bookshop or would like to apply for a grant can contact Mrs Black on 01833 640021.
