Book Sales Raise £½ Million For Guide Dogs

The Jersey branch of Guide Dogs for the Blind has now raised more than £500,000 by selling second hand books.

The 'major milestone' was reached at the charity's latest event on Saturday (2 July) at St Ouen's Parish Hall.

The first sale took place 27 years ago, on the suggestion of Chairman Ken Syvret.

The sales are now a regular fixture in Jersey's events calendar, with the October 'Biggest' Book Sale featuring more than 20,000 titles including paperback novels, children's books, and reference books covering a plethora of subjects.

Saturday's sale at St Ouen's Parish Hall focussed on Channel Islands books, art and children's books. It raised £4,240.

"It really was absolutely incredible to reach this milestone. Thousands of people have been involved over the years, many donating their books and many more coming to buy them. We have been very lucky to have such support from the community and help from a team of loyal volunteers."  - Ken Syvret MBE, the Chairman of the Jersey Branch of Guide Dogs.

An amazing milestone today for ⁦@guidedogs⁩ #JerseyCI

£500,000 raised for the charity through our book sales! 🐾🐾🇯🇪
⁦@JEPnews⁩ ⁦@ITVChannelTV⁩ ⁦@BBCJersey⁩ @channel103
⁦@bailiwickxpress⁩ pic.twitter.com/sUfWUnVavB

— Tracy Mourant (@TracyMourant) July 2, 2022

The money raised goes straight to training guide dogs and meeting the costs of providing a person with a dog.  That is more than £50,000 for the life of the animal.

There are currently two guide dogs working in Jersey, and one puppy - Spencer (pictured) - being trained here.

"Running the book sales has been a lovely exercise in so many ways. I have met so many lovely people who have a story about why they are donating books or looking for a particular book that means something special to them. Some people come to meet the dogs, some because they like the recycling element. Many come because they simply love books and want to lose themselves for a while at the sale in the hope of unearthing a bargain or a small treasure among the many books we have on sale." - Ken Syvret.

The next book sale is the annual ‘Biggest’ Book Sale, which takes place at Albert Bartlett on Trinity Hill on 22nd and 23rd October.