5 December 2017
UPDATE: Unfortunately Global Educational Trust are no longer running. We wish everyone there all the best for the future.
Every day people are carrying out good deeds so we decided to celebrate the great work that charities, community groups and campaigners do with a regular feature on Tuesdays, to tie-in with #CharityTuesday on social media.
Recently, we caught up with Global Educational Trust to find out more.
Where are you based and what geographical areas do you support people in?
Our registered head office is in Bradford, UK. We support people throughout the UK and worldwide. Recent examples would include the building of an orphanage and education centre in Gambia, whilst providing free books via a network of free books shops in the UK.
How do you support people?
We support people by improving their opportunities for an education and increasing the literacy rates. The basic skill of reading opens up many doors for individuals and is a key stepping stone in helping people out of poverty.
How did the charity come to be founded?
The charity was founded in 2012 by two like minded friends who recognised the impact of fulfilling everyone’s right to an education.
How many people do you have working at the charity?
We have two charity trustees and an administrator, but the key to success revolves around our team of volunteers.
How can people support you?
People can volunteer to work in a free books shop, if there is one in their town. Of course we gratefully receive monetary donations and support fundraising events. We welcome books donations or offers of free help in our book logistics.
We are also supported by landlords who allow us to use their empty shops whilst they do not have a tenant. It is through their generosity that we have been able to establish our free books shop network. Using empty shops also means we can contribute towards rejuvenating town centres.
Have you faced any challenges along the way?
We do face the disappointments when a book shop has to close i.e. when the landlord finds a paying tenant. But our volunteers are amazing, even when a shop is closing down.
Do you have any charity events coming up and where can people find out about these events?
We have recently had a one year birthday celebration for our Global Educational Trust free books shop in Redcar, we were delighted to welcome the local Mayor to cut the cake. In addition to our well established shops we also have a variety of new spaces, in particular in Sale we are pleased that our latest shop is taking shape and gaining interest in the local community. GET plan to accelerate the increase of the number of GET free books shops in the UK, so the news of GETs work and this free books opportunity will become more widely available.
Is there any advice you could give to other charities?
Good people make things happen. Localised volunteer centres tend to be extremely helpful.
You can find out even more about Global Educational Trust from their information sheet below:
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