A CHARITY book club – which helps fund emergency shelter for people displaced by conflict and disaster around the world – is celebrating its five-year anniversary.
ShelterBox Book Club, which formed in 2018, sends one book every six weeks to subscribed readers, while subscription costs are used to provide support to people affected by conflict and disasters.
The book club, which has 150 members in the West Midlands and thousands in the UK, works with the international disaster relief charity who specialise in emergency shelter.
It has helped more than 2.5 million people across nearly 100 countries and is currently responding to the Morocco earthquake, and flooding in Libya.
“It is completely humbling that ShelterBox Book Club is thriving five years after it started and we’re so grateful for the wonderful support we’ve received,” said Catherine Thornhill, head bookworm at ShelterBox.
Malvern based book club member, Debbie Herbert said: “The ShelterBox Book Club has introduced me to so many fantastic books from across the globe I wouldn’t have picked myself.
“It’s been a great way to support the vital work of ShelterBox around the world.”
The charity book club is also supporting people displaced by conflict in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Chad, and Mozambique.
And responding to the worst drought to hit East Africa in 40 years, monsoon flooding in Pakistan, and earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.
Catherine added: “The people our charity supports have often had to leave behind their homes, belongings, livelihoods, and sometimes loved ones too.
“Our book club is raising funds to help people who need it with different combinations of emergency shelter, and basic items like water filters, mosquito nets, and blankets, to make the biggest difference for communities after disaster.
“The difference this book club and our members are making to people all over the world is astonishing and sometimes I have to just stop and let that sink in – it’s remarkable.”
Five years on, the book club has reached its next huge milestone – one and a half million pounds.
Visit http://www.shelterbox.org/ for more information.
