Reprieve for closure-threatened charity book shop in Coleshill

The book shop needed to raise £30,000 for repairs

Charity shop volunteers who started a fundraiser in a bid to keep it open have surpassed their target and say they are now positive about its future.

Books Revisited, in Coleshill, Warks, was set to close down on Saturday as the 200-year-old shop needs repairing.

The goal was to raise £30,000 to fix the wooden framework and windows of the grade II-listed building.

Volunteer Barry Reeves thanked the community and said people had been "absolutely fantastic".

Barry Reeves said it was a dream working at the charity book shop

The book store is run by the Mary Ann Evans Hospice, which previously said the store was no longer financially viable in its current location.

Mr Reeves said coverage of the shop's plight had raised its profile and donations had come in from as far away as the US and Canada.

Schools and businesses in Coleshill also did their own fundraising.

The charity book shop opened in 2012 with Mr Reeves being one of the first volunteers.

"I love books, it was a dream," Mr Reeves said, adding his favourite book is Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.

Pay for upkeep

"My favourite thing to do is talking to people when they come in and seeing children interested in books."

The hospice provides free services to those living with life-limiting illnesses and their families, caring for people in their own homes within northern Warwickshire.

Mr Reeves said now the fundraising target had been met, talks about the future of the shop would start and added he was feeling positive.

"We are currently in negotiations with the landlord to re-negotiate a lease on the property," a spokesperson for Mary Ann Evans Hospice said.

Due to the letting being a commercial lease rather than a domestic one, it is the hospice's responsibility to pay for most of the upkeep of the building, including windows and doors.

The hospice said: "We as a charity are over the moon and blown away by the volunteers for setting this up."