The charity held a 40th Anniversary celebratory BBQ in the grounds of Druminnor Castle near Rhynie on 9th October 2022.
Alex Forbes, owner of Druminnor kindly hosted the event and gave a brief history of the castle to those in attendance.
Keith Brunskill, the Founder of Books Abroad gave a history of how the charity began. Keith’s desire to help had been partially inspired by the words of King George VI in his victory message in 1946: ‘ join in the common effort to establish among the nations of the world unity and peace’.
This idea remained with him and this, together with his time spent in his local Rover Scout Group where he was encouraged to, ‘enter into life as a joyous adventure, facing difficulty with a smile and lending a hand in helpful Service unto others’ which led to him wanting helping others. As a teacher in Banff he got an opportunity to put this into practice when a visiting missionary from Nigeria mentioned the lack of books in his country. Keith set about organising pupils to raise funds and to parcel books for posting to Nigeria.
From these humble beginnings when it was originally known as LINK with books being stored in a cupboard in Huntly Library at one time Books Abroad has now grown to occupy two large units at its present premises in Rhynie.
Vinay Ruparelia, present Chairperson then gave an update of the charity’s activities today and plans for its future.
It was an enjoyable afternoon with past and present volunteers as well as members and supporters of the charity catching up and reminiscing.
A cake was baked by Penny Fuller, Trustee and cut by Kathleen Reid, who spent many years volunteering in the warehouse.
