Her Majesty The Queen hosts reception in celebration of Book Aid International’s 70th anniversary.
Her Majesty The Queen, Book Aid International Royal Patron, yesterday hosted a reception at St James’s Palace in London, to mark seven decades of the charity’s work.
Book Aid International works to share the power of books and build a more equal world. Every year, the charity provides over one million brand-new books to thousands of communities where people have very few opportunities to read and works with its partners to support and establish libraries.
The reception, in celebration of Book Aid International’s 70th anniversary, included representatives from partners, publishers, authors and volunteers who have supported the charity over the years. Since the charity began sending books to the Bahamas in 1954, they have sent over 37 million books to libraries and communities across the world.
During the reception, Her Majesty met with the charity’s President, Bloomsbury Publishing founder, Nigel Newton CBE, Vice Patron Lord Boateng, Chair Dr Alice Prochaska and Chief Executive Alison Tweed.
Lord Boateng, who as a child growing up in Africa was a beneficiary of Book Aid International, spoke about the charity’s work and said:
“Book Aid International is deeply honoured that our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, hosted this special reception at St James’s Palace. This comes after Her Majesty’s visits to see for herself our work at our warehouse and headquarters in South London and during past Royal visits to Ghana, The Gambia, Rwanda and Kenya and is a mark of her dedication to the cause of making books and reading readily available to all.
Books as I know from my own experience growing up in the Commonwealth, change lives in often challenging circumstances and Book Aid International continues worldwide to build on the work that began more than seventy years ago by our founder the Countess Ranfurly.
We are hugely grateful to Her Majesty for her inspirational support and championing the importance of reading libraries and literacy the world over. Book Aid International’s work is only possible because of a generous network of publishers, book loving donors, volunteers, dedicated staff and international partners, all of whose efforts were recognised at this reception.”
The Queen had the opportunity to hear from Book Aid International’s partners Elizabeth and Paul Johnson, founders of the INEZA Foundation in Kigali, Rwanda. The INEZA founders talked about how their organisation supports the creation of community libraries as a way of promoting literacy across Rwanda. Her Majesty also met with Dr Olha Mukha from PEN Ukraine, who spoke about the work that Book Aid International is doing with PEN Ukraine, sending over 40,000 books to restock hundreds of Ukrainian libraries targeted and destroyed during the war.
Her Majesty viewed photos of the charity’s work which included young readers in Malawi and Uganda, refugees in Kenya, pupils in Zambia and Zimbabwe, midwives in Somaliland and staff from the recently rebuilt University Library in Mosul, Iraq, all of whom have benefited from the books Book Aid International provides.
Book Aid International’s Chair Dr Alice Prochaska, commented:
“At Book Aid International, we know that everything we do is built on collaboration and we celebrate the relationships we have with our amazing network of 185 partners worldwide. It was a tremendous honour for us, to introduce Her Majesty to some of our partners from Ukraine and Rwanda who could talk about the life-changing work they are doing in their countries. Her Majesty’s attendance on this special occasion, marking seven decades of Book Aid International, is a powerful reminder that together we can make a real difference. We extend our warmest and most heartfelt thanks to Her Majesty for her continued support.”
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Notes to editors
Further information
Please contact Henrietta Yoxall: 07887 651 285 henrietta.yoxall@bookaid.org
Book Aid International provides over one million new books every year in the places where they will make the biggest difference and sets up libraries, trains people to run them and works with its partners to spark a love of reading. Together with its 185 partners worldwide, the charity provides books everywhere from refugee camps, prisons and hospitals to remote schools where there has never been a library before. Last year, the charity provided books to readers in nine conflict affected countries and gave over 379,800 refugees the opportunity to read. To find out more about Book Aid International visit bookaid.org
Book Aid International is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity number 313869.