Help the Rural Child Charity Shop opened its first children’s bookshop in Mowbray earlier this month.
Nicolette Antonie, director of the Help the Rural Child Charity Shops in Aid of Goedgedacht, said: “We have close to 10 000 books covering a variety of authors and genres, namely fiction, non-fiction, picture books, joke books, poetry, classics, themed books and books for teenagers.” The books are very well priced and in good condition – the public can buy books for the price of R10 to R100 Ms Antonie said the NPO started in 1998 under the umbrella of the Catholic Welfare Development (CWD) and became independent in 2006, changing its name to Help the Rural Child Charity Shops.
Today they have seven charity shops, including a bookshop and a clothing shop in Mowbray; a furniture and clothing shop in Retreat; a clothing shop in Adderley Street in the CBD, a bookshop in Kirstenhof and a clothing shop in Sea Point. All their stock is donated by the very generous public of Cape Town.
Natalie Cheketri, manager of the Help the Rural Child Children’s Bookshop, said the shop was a spin-off of their mobile bookshop launched in 2008. “I started out by packing my little red Corsa full of books and visiting a few schools. Today we take books to over 70 nursery and primary schools across the city,” she said. “It is our responsibility to care for and be accountable to our rural neighbours. We are passionate about helping to turn the rural child into a happy and secure citizen,” she said. All their proceeds go to the ten Path Out of Poverty (POP) rural youth centres in varying stages of development in Prince Albert, Riebeek Kasteel, Riebeek West, Goedgedacht Farm, Koringberg, Riverlands, Chatsworth and Paarl. They are all part of the Goedagedacht Trust.
“The more successful our shops are the more we are able to supply the funds needed for POP projects, which centre on four key values: education, health, personal development and caring for the planet. We also support their organic gardens, which provides healthy wholesome food for the centres. We believe we are making an indelible difference in the lives of very poor children,” Ms Antonie said.
Contact 021 685 1202 or 083 650 1941 for more information
