THE NSPCC Book Fair group is urgently appealing for books across all subjects, ahead of its two-day book sale event at the Stanway School this October.

Since 1989 the event has raised over £500,000 for the children’s charity.

This year, the organisers are in need of more donations of all kinds of books to support the charity as it continues its vital work.

An ever-popular occasion, the fair began as a one-day event for the first five years, but demand meant that two days were required to fulfil the growing number of visitors, enabling more donations to be collected.

The money raised will go towards funding NSPCC services, such as Childline, a free and confidential service which is available to children and young people 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It costs £4 to answer a call to a child and currently the service is receiving two calls per minute from children seeking help.

Margaret Jones, one of the event’s organisers, said: “We rely on these donations to put on the event and this year our stocks are lower than usual.

“We’re appealing to the public to donate to one of our drop-off collections points or check our website for further assistance.

“Last year, we raised over £12,000 for the NSPCC, and we want to ensure this year is as successful as pre-pandemic events, in previous years we have raised over £20,000.

“We are also looking for sponsorship as the cost-of-living crisis and new larger venue have meant our overhead charges have increased. With these costs covered, we would be able to raise even more for the charity.”

Sarah Laffling, NSPCC community fundraising manager for Essex, said: “Without the valued support of our volunteers, like the Colchester Book Fair, we wouldn’t be able to fund our services as approximately 90 per cent of our income comes through donations.

“Over the last 30 years, this event has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for the charity and we hope the public will support this appeal for their unused books to ensure the fair is a success this autumn.”

The event will take place at Stanway School on October 28 and 29. For more information on how to donate, visit tinyurl.com/7ne6s23c.