On September 4th Her Majesty The Queen, Book Aid International Royal Patron, hosted a reception at St James’s Palace in London, to mark seven decades of the charity’s work.

The reception included representatives from partners, publishers, authors and volunteers who have supported us over the years.

During the reception, I was honoured to greet Her Majesty with Book Aid International President, Bloomsbury Publishing founder, Nigel Newton CBE, Vice Patron Lord Boateng and Chief Executive Alison Tweed.

The Queen also met with a number of Book Aid International’s partners including Elizabeth and Paul Johnson, founders of the INEZA Foundation in Kigali, Rwanda which supports the creation of community libraries across Rwanda.  Her Majesty also met with Dr Olha Mukha from PEN Ukraine, who spoke about the work that Book Aid International is doing sending over 40,000 books to restock hundreds of Ukrainian libraries targeted and destroyed during the war.

Speeches on the night

Guests gathered to hear speeches from Book Aid International’s Chief Executive Alison Tweed who talked about the vision and mission and gave a brief look forward to the charity’s future – outlining two key pieces of work.

First, our Generation Reader campaign, which aims, by 2030, to give 10 million young people access to books. And second, our ambitious project to relocate from our beloved Camberwell warehouse to a larger and purpose-built distribution centre. This move will position us to send over 2 million books a year, ensuring even more people can experience the life-changing power of books.

Alison Tweed, Chief Executive, Book Aid International

Guests then heard from Lord Boateng, Book Aid International’s Vice Patron who talked from his own experience as a child growing up in Ghana and the difference that a library stocked by Book Aid International had had on his life.

“Book Aid International, then the Countess Ranfurly’s Library Trust, changed my life. I was a little boy growing up in the Gold Coast, which became Ghana, and Book Aid International furnished the books and trained the librarians for the first dedicated children’s library in sub-Saharan Africa. I went to that library as a six, seven year-old. And it did change my life.

They represented hope, they underpinned aspiration, they gave us a sense of the possibilities and Your Majesty, it’s that that Book Aid International seeks to do today.”

Lord Boateng, Vice Patron, Book Aid International

He also thanked Her Majesty for continued support, her passion and the the interest she has taken in our work.

Her Majesty ended the evening with an impromptu speech saying:

“I have visited quite a lot of countries on my travels and I have been to libraries which have been recipients of Book Aid International, and I have just seen the joy on the children’s faces when they receive these books.

And if we can keep on doing this all over the world, we’re going to make a very, very big difference to people reading books, children getting access to books – and it’s really thanks to Book Aid International and all of you here who have made this possible. So thank you very much indeed.”

Royal Patron, Her Majesty The Queen

In winding up the reception and echoing Her Majesty’s words about the joy that our books bring, I took the opportunity also to add thanks from all the Trustees for the wonderful support we receive, above all from the Queen herself.

Photo Credits: Ian Jones © Ian Jones

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