BOOK RELIEF UK

 

In October 2006 one man had a desire to start a local charity that would support literacy in the South West and worldwide. This man was our founder Barry Evetts – a man of great energy and passion, who began to put this dream into reality. He could not have done this without the day-to-day and strategic support of his great friends The Reverend John Carvosso and Jeremy Bell; a Northam councillor.

 

They started with a small bookshop in Appledore. Local people would donate books and the charity would sell them on. The shop was very small inside so the three friends would put the books out on the street on trestle tables with plastic oversheets to guard against rain. Once the money started to come in the three friends looked for how their work could support others.

 

Early local initiatives worked with local schools. Primary schools which had a larger number of deprived children who were less likely to have books at home where reading was not a high priority were targeted. This is an approach the charity continues to follow although we now give UK wide and to many other organisations in addition to schools. Some 18% of the UK population struggle with reading or cannot read at all; the need is still here with us in the UK as well as abroad. Barry was fond of this quotation from Kofi Annan (UN leader 1997-2006)

 

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.” (1997).

 

Barry, John and Jeremy also started to collect books to send overseas to projects in Africa and India. They were stored locally and then sent abroad. In a talk to a local Rotary club Barry was clear in his desire to serve those who have less. Initial projects for Aids orphans in Uganda, street kids in Mombasa, Kenya, or a school library in Gondar, Ethiopia were small scale but much appreciated by these small local initiatives. The initial inspiration for this structure was an American organisation called Better World Books. John, Jeremy and Barry soon modified the basic structure to something that worked for them locally.

 

Sadly, Barry died in December 2014 and it was left to Jeremy and John and a growing group of volunteers to develop and manage the shop. The Reverend John Carvosso became our new chairperson. The model was simple: we collected donated books and sold them on. After paying our costs the extra money was given to organisations around the world and in the UK. At first it was hard for us to cover our costs, but with the support of our many wonderful volunteers and by ensuring our costs were as much reduced as possible we are now giving upwards of twenty-five thousand pounds a year to UK based schools, libraries, hospitals, prisons, refugee organisations, adult literacy schemes and established local charities which give support abroad.

 

It was Barry Evetts who began what has become a very successful charity. His passion began as a young man when he was an import/export shipping manager. His travels around the world gave him an experience of how many live and he already knew that literacy – the basic simple skills involved in reading and writing – gave people access to an economic and cultural life that could lift everyone to a higher place, one which allowed the exploration of potential and will also lead to a stronger economic position with greater security for both themselves and their families. With his friends at his side Barry decided to help. A vision that has been taken forward by John and Jeremy, and grounded by our current chairperson Dr Sarah Rich with the support of all the volunteers who work with us and with the oversight of our Trustees and the Charity Commission as well as our sponsor Michael Morpurgo.

 

One of Barry’s greatest friends was Jeremy Bell. Alongside John (our treasurer at the time) Jeremy was there at the beginning and this prose ode, written by him, gives a good introduction to Barry’s character and the charity’s beginnings in Appledore:

 

Oh Barry – how can I forget

Your small ever-active frame

Slowly weakening in these last seasons,

But still alive with fiery determination

carrying box, after box, after box of books

Out of that dimly lit bookshop

into the sale-light.

 

‘Thank-you,’ he’d say

As I guiltily strode up to him

(was I a bit late or he early?)

‘I’ll bring the books out’, I’d say quickly;

‘You organise them as you wish’

(he had firm views on how they should be presented.)

Twenty five boxes later

He is reasonably content.

‘It’s a fine day – there’ll be lots of people around.’

‘How did you do yesterday?’ I ask

‘Quite good really – we made £11.50!’

(He’d been there seven hours sitting in that dingy shop)

‘They forecast rain for later’ I comment.

Staring at the already threatening sky.

‘I know; but we’ve got plastic oversheets,

So if anyone buys a book, and I have to go

They can pay at Suzie’s – she’s kindly agreed to take the money.

We’ve got to keep open -

There’s rent to pay, and everything we make

Can attract matched funding.

Cllr X has given us £200 from his charitable allowance,

And I am expecting more money from grants

From the Bideford Bridge and Northam Town Council.

I’ve applied on-line again to the Queen Alexander fund

Are you coming to the quiz night,

And are you still up for that parachute Jump?’

 

Oh, the determination of the little terrier -

Even in his last weeks at the hospice,

He was planning and organising.

Never say die.

 

He had a deep sense of justice,

And a profound belief that literacy

Could enable those who can’t read

To grow in self-confidence

And transform their lives -

Whether in the UK, or in Africa.

‘Improve the world’s education

By getting these books out to the world’ he said.

This was his thing – he’d brook no argument.

 

But he was also very deeply thoughtful

And widely read.

His orphanage pain drove him

To strive to make a mark

Beyond the books he wrote himself

Around his own life experiences.

He had enjoyed the liberating power of literature,

And he wanted to share this with others -

Particularly those less fortunate than himself.

This is his legacy.

Because of him, so many have learnt to read -

And most would never know

That he has provided the means for them to do so.

 

But it his spirit that will endure -

That naked, terrier tenacity,

And vulnerable loving.

 

 

After Barry left us John and Jeremy determined the bookshop and charity should continue. For a while we became Torridge nomads migrating between shops until we finally settled where we are now; Mill Street in Bideford. Our many volunteers – and we are all unpaid volunteers- do magnificent work sorting and selling books in the shop, on Ebay, and occasionally at fetes and pop-up markets. Open six days a week; (and with no need for plastic oversheets!) we serve locals and visitors with many kinds of books – both non-fiction and fiction. The three friends’ legacy – although much changed from the original model – remains strong and there are many local school children, libraries and adult literacy organisations who have benefitted from the money we grant. The changing financial regulation of literacy projects, schools and libraries has meant we need to move with the times. Local libraries, hospitals and the Appledore book festival are a major focus alongside adult literacy programmes and prison reading programmes. And we are particularly pleased that children and adults in Uganda, Peru, and elsewhere in the world benefit from what we are able to send.

 

Our history is one of a shared vision between three friends and of transitions as we moved from shop to shop and, into our current structure; making modern social media, and accountability into the core of our activity. It is also a history founded on managed growth and of an organisation which values those who give to us and work with us. Strong ethical foundations and good business practice have given North Devon a charity we can be proud of. There are children and adults in the UK and all over the world who are benefitting from the work we do.