It is very rare these days to find a genuine treasure; something which is priceless in the true sense of the word. But today, in a rather wet Upminster, I did just that.
In the middle of the High Street is a charity shop. Not just any old charity shop, it is packed full of books. Books about foreign lands, children’s books, dictionaries, fantasy, sci-fi…a huge range of previously loved books. There aren’t any super glossy signed first editions, but there are a ridiculous number of books none the less. That would have been enough for me – heaven! I found yet another Alice to add to the collection:
But it got better. These books have been rescued and donated to stop them being packed off to a land-fill site. The shop is run by a very dedicated team of wonderful volunteers, who have a real passion for books. Pretty good stuff heh? And – yes, there’s an and – the books are free! Well, almost. The deal is that you can take up to five books and give a donation of your choosing. Since May 2011 the good people of Upminster have donated £12,134 and saved a multitude of books from being scrapped. The charity who run this initiative is ‘Healthy Planet’; they are a charity committed to tackling Eco issues in a practical way.
I would urge you to check out their website and certainly pootle down to Upminster if you get the chance. You never know what you might discover!
Chicken and Frog Bookshop 
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