An Oxfam bookshop will be opening at 23 London Road next month, offering a wide selection of books and music.
The new shop, located next to Tesco Express, is currently being fitted out and will open on Saturday May 7th with a wide range of stock, from modern fiction and leisure interest to more specialist subjects. They will also sell a range of music in CD, DVD and vinyl format and there will be a children's corner with table and chairs.
The shop will be managed by Katie Robb who lives in Chorlton, she started out as a book volunteer at Oxfam and recently worked as Deputy Manager in the Manchester City Centre store. Katie told me "We have high standards so people can expect the books to be in good condition and I want the shop to be a place where the community feel welcome."
Katie is looking for a team of 20 to 25 volunteers to help run the specialist bookshop. She said "It is not really important to be a book or music expert, we can provide the training and skills. We're looking for people who are enthusiastic and want to get involved, that's much more important than knowing the latest best seller. We take volunteers from as young as 14 right up to any age and we'll need people to do accounts, fundraising, customer service and pick up the collections from peoples houses.
"We want people to volunteer but we also need people to shop and donate, they can make a difference because all the money raised will got to fight poverty."
Oxfam will be holding a Meet and Greet Evening in the shop on Wednesday 20th April at 7pm, which everyone is welcome to attend.
One of Oxfam's campaigners will give a short presentation about a specific project Oxfam is involved in and there will be the opportunity afterwards to talk to various people who are involved in the charity.
If you are interested in volunteering, or require further information email Katie Robb or call 07896 00 66 77.
Oxfam is the largest retailer of second-hand books in Europe, selling around 11 million books every year. Most of their 700+ shops around the UK sell books and more than 130 shops are specialist book and music shops. The profits of the book and music sales support the work of Oxfam.
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James/Graeme - I know that there has been a lot of debate about the new buildings, but I hope that once it's all fitted out you'll like the look of the shop. Although there are posters in the windows just now asking for volunteers, once it opens the windows will be largely free. And the colour scheme/decor is more subtle than Tesco.