The Book Trade Charity

Posted on March 30, 2010 in Uncategorized

The Book Trade Charity, formally known as BTBS, have re-named and re-launched their charity. The Book Trade Charity have been have been helping people in the book industry for around 170 years, providing practical, emotional and financial support to anyone who works or has worked, in the book industry, and their dependents. The charity offers long-term financial support and one-off grants to those who have worked in the industry for over a year, and find themselves in unavoidable and undesirable circumstances.

The Book Trade charity has experience of a broad range of issues, and gives people a better quality of life, not just through continued financial support, but also by helping people to re-train, helping them to find employment and giving them opportunities otherwise unavailable to them. They can assist with re-training after redundancy and even help with e-learning courses to help people get access to new employment. They have experience of supporting individuals and families through critical illnesses from Multiple Sclerosis to Cancer and Heart Disease. They also have social welfare provisions, which can vary from emergency household repairs through to income subsidies for those on State Benefits.

The Book Trade charity also provides support, information and advice, and helps to lead people in the right direction in their lives and career choices. They also have unique housing provision, called ‘The Retreat’ which is a facility for people who have worked in the industry, where residents can live safely and securely with people who are from similar backgrounds with similar interests, in a pleasant and relaxed environment.

The Book Trade Charity give away around £100,000 in grants every year, and recently, with the book industry having gone through such a tough time, they have had more and more people getting into contact with them.

This year, the Book Trade charity are running Action Week, which will involve many new and innovative ways to make money for the charity. Action Week will run from Monday 7th June 2010 until Friday 11th June 2010, and the charity are encouraging people to get involved in whatever way they can, with any ideas, big or small, being welcomed. They aim to raise £25,000 of additional funding during Action Week, and there are already many events set up to enable this to happen. The aim of Action Week is not only to raise money, but to spread awareness of what the charity does. A great example of the fundraising happening right now is that of Simon Juden,  Chief Executive of the Publishers Association, is running the London Marathon in support of the charity.

There are also Book Sales events, run on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year, where stock donated by the trade is sold at very attractive prices. A wide of books is offered: fiction, non-fiction, coffee-table books and children’s books to name a few. The admission for these Book Sales is absolutely free of charge.

On Friday 11th June 2010, the Book trade Charity will be hosting the Publishers’ Tennis Tournament and, for the first time, all the proceeds from this event will go to the charity as part of Action Week. Over the years, this event has been popular with all members of the industry, including authors, publishers, agents and many others. There is also an ‘All Star Spelling Bee’ lined up, and the charity is challenging members of the industry to come up with new fundraising ideas, such as sporting, musical and literary events.

The SYP is a huge supporter of the work that the Book Trade charity does, having supported and participated in their fundraising for the last few years. So, this year, the SYP will of course will be helping the Book Trade Charity during Action Week, with our annual pub quiz and other potential events lined up. Over the last three years, the SYP’s pub quiz has raised over £3,500 for the charity. Expert quizzers and those who just come along for fun pit their knowledge against teams from the book trade. Teams are made up of eight people and it is always a popular event. The SYP and the Book Trade Charity will be counting on the support from all people and businesses in the book industry to help raise money for such a great cause.

The Book Trade charity really do cover and think of everything. The experience they have is second to none and they are unique in what they do. They provide a confidential helpline as the first port of call and the great work that they do follows. The charity has many friends in the industry, such as the SYP, the Bookseller,  BookBrunch, BookCareers and the Publishers Association, to name but a few.

There are many examples and testimonials about the great work that this charity does and how many people they have helped. To find out more information about the Book Trade Charity, please visit www.booktradecharity.org. Any ideas for their Action Week fundraiser would be greatly appreciated.