By Dan Thompson
A bookshop in a shipping container is celebrating a record-breaking year supporting a local charity.
The Friends of Ellington Park’s work has been supported by the bookshop, housed in shipping containers in the Ramsgate park, for seven years. In the first six months this year, the bookshop has taken more than it did for the whole of 2021. On the busiest day of the year it brought in nearly £1000.
Run by half-a-dozen volunteers, supported by Aimee Atkins from the Friend’s committee, the shop has one shipping container for fiction, with most books sold for 50p.
A second container has specialist sections for history, theatre, and antiquarian and rare books, alongside sections for maritime books, transport, and other specialist subjects.
“The bookshop not only raises the funds we need to support community groups like Mencap and local Scouts,” says Aimee, “but is also a social space and part of the park’s community.”
“We love the variety of books that come in as donations,” says volunteer manager Pat Scutt, “and we have some real gems and rarities you won’t find anywhere else.”
Any donations of books can be dropped off while the shop is open, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, from 12-4pm.
