A bookshop at a small Perthshire railway station has raised a whopping £350,000 for charities since it opened.
Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (Chas) has received £60,000 from the sale of second hand books at Pitlochry station.
And it’s just one of six good causes to benefit from the hard work of volunteers over the past 15 years.
People can donate books to the bookshop, which then sells them on, usually for £1 per book.
A unique arrangement with Scotrail means all proceeds go to charity.
‘Every penny is well spent’
The 45 volunteers are delighted to have raised so much money.
Railway Bookshop chairman Graham Holmes said: “We are thrilled to have raised so much for these great causes since we opened in 2006 and know that every penny is well spent.
“It never ceases to amaze me how much we have raised. It signifies a lot of books being sold.”
Meanwhile, CHAS is hugely grateful to the bookshop, its volunteers and its supporters for having raised so much money for the charity, which runs Rachel House in Kinross
CHAS Community Fundraiser Ruathy Donald said: “We are incredibly grateful to Graham and his team for all their efforts over the years.
“The amount raised has gone a considerable way to helping the babies, children, young people and families who need the assistance of our hospices and CHAS at Home teams.”
How does the bookshop work?
The Pitlochry Station Bookshop supports a total of six charities: CHAS, Cancer Research UK, Highland Perthshire Shopmobility, Mercy Corps, Tayside Mountain Rescue and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA).
Since it opened, it has raised more than £352,500 for all six charities.
Based on platform one of Pitlochry railway station, the shop attracts Perthshire locals as well as visitors and has been supported by people from all over the world.
After more than a year of Covid restrictions, the bookshop is now fully open, with guidelines such as mask-wearing in place.
It now also operate an online shop, meaning it can further support charitable causes.