Oxfam at Hay Festival

Oxfam at Hay festival 2011

The Oxfam bookshop was at Hay Festival again this year, bursting with brilliant books for everyone. We asked festival goers to bring us their books, and as part of our nationwide books donation drive we received an amazing 30,000 books for our shipping container at the festival.

Even royalty joined in with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, donating a children's book and a couple of cookbooks.

Sales were even better than last year, and book sales really help to change lives around the world. The sale of 21 donated books could kit out a classroom for children in Vietnam. And selling 86 books could pay to train a teacher in Kenya.

Last year at Hay Festival

Last year’s festival was a huge success for Oxfam. After 11 days’ selling, receiving, discussing and breathing books, we had raised an incredible £34,000 to help fight poverty.

Our shop manager Graham and his team of volunteers kept the shop ship-shape for 110 hours of trading. We sold 14,000 books – double the number sold in 2009 – and had completely sold out of fiction and children's books with days to go.

We also received 4,500 book donations – an average of 13 books per donor. Some supporters even bought books from our stand in the morning, read the entire book during the day, and then donated it back in the evening.

What’s more, we signed up 240 new book donors to our Gift Aid scheme . That means every pound we make selling their books will generate an extra 28p from the government.

Visit the Hay Festival website for more information.