Charity Bookstore’s Closing Down Sale

The charity’s pop-up bookstore has sold over 10,000 books and raised thousands of pounds since it opened in January, providing a vital source of income to fund Cancer Focus NI’s Keeping Well vans – the vans tour local workplaces, schools, shopping centres, sports and community venues giving potentially life-saving health checks as well as lifestyle advice on smoking, nutrition, alcohol and exercise.

The bookstore has become a real hit with shoppers who can purchase from an extensive range of quality books in the genres of fiction and non-fiction, history, classics, crime, leisure and children’s top reads.

Keith Savage, Shop Manager said, “We have a huge stock selection on offer including Irish non-fiction which is hugely popular and often rare to find in second-hand bookstores.  Many of our customers are picking up great holiday reads and with such great bargains they are stocking up now for the cold winter months ahead. 

“We are indebted to everyone who donated books to the shop which included some really special items such as an American First Edition of Brendan Behan’s, ‘The Borstal Boy’ and signed copies of Sue Townsend’s ‘The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year’ and ‘The Queen and I’.  We’ve also got an amazing original signed copy of ‘Poems Written in the Leisure Hours of a Journeyman Mason’ by Hugh Miller from 1829 – a very special collectable item which we’ll be selling to raise as much funds as possible for Cancer Focus NI.”

Angela McGrath, Retail Development Manager for the charity said, “We are indebted to the staff and nine volunteers who helped run the bookstore over the last six months and also to the owners who have let us use their premises, free of charge, while they remained vacant.  Unfortunately the premises have now been let so we have to close our doors at the end of the month.  We would encourage any private landlords or estate agents to get in touch if alternative city centre premises could be offered, free of charge to keep our High Street and book store open!”

Cancer Focus NI’s bookstore is open Monday - Saturday from 10am-5.30pm until the end of July.

Cancer Focus NI has worked for over 40 years to reduce the impact of cancer in Northern Ireland. We do this by providing care and support services to anyone affected by cancer, delivering cancer prevention programmes, campaigning for effective health policies and funding local ground breaking research.

If you have concerns, questions or issues about any aspect of cancer call our confidential freephone cancer information and support helpline (0800 783 3339) and speak directly with a specialist nurse or email [email protected]. 

For more information on the work of Cancer Focus NI visit www.cancerfocusni.org or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

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For further information please contact

Derval McVerry, Communications Officer, Cancer Focus NI on

028 9066 3281 / 07812525531

Or

Marie Foy, Communications Officer, Cancer Focus NI on

02890663281 / 07736358692