Books Abroad SCIO
Charity number: SC011359
Website: www.booksabroad.org.uk
Description:
Books Abroad is a registered charity, which aspires to support education in developing countries worldwide by redistributing carefully chosen, second hand books.
From its base in Rhynie in Aberdeenshire, Books Abroad collects good quality second hand books donated by schools, colleges, universities and private individuals from across Scotland and some parts of England, and redistributes them to educational establishments around the world in response to specific requests for support.
Over 300 requests for books are received from abroad per year, of which around 20-30 projects are supplied with books. We aim to help anyone in need who asks, from any country in the world, regardless of race or religion. We currently have an output of over 125,000 books per annum. To date, over 3 million books have been dispatched worldwide. The charity's target is to send parcels to each institution once every 3 years. Where no appropriate books are available from the second hand collection to satisfy requests, funds may be used to purchase new books, for example atlases, dictionaries and health books.
There is no cost to the recipients for the provision or delivery of books being sent abroad. Where possible, Books Abroad tries to send the parcels to established partners for onward distribution, which ensures accurate delivery to the requesting organisations and dramatically reduces delivery costs. Partners include Rotary Clubs abroad, Diamond Bank Trust and other similar established organisations.
Books Abroad receives no government funding, depending entirely on successful funding bids from trusts and companies, as well as monies raised during fundraising events in local communities and from donations and membership subscriptions by our supporters.
Books deemed unsuitable for redistribution are resold locally to raise funds for Books Abroad, or are industrially shredded and used locally for animal bedding or composting.