11/06/2025
Hi there! 😀
I’m Laura, manager of the GET free books Bradford branch (Darley street- opposite the new venue that’s been built), and work alongside John who manages the main charity shop which is next door. I’ve been with the charity for just over 18 months, John is coming up to his 7th year. We currently only have two charity shops- Bradford and South Wales (that one is much bigger than our Bradford one) and around 25 bookshops around the country. We recently have set up and got the new Dewsbury branch running, that’s been open now for five weeks 😃 and has brought abit of joy back to the town
Abit about us if you’re not familiar with us. We are a registered charity that aims to encourage reading and promote education. Electronic devices have taken over these days in many ways and reading seems to have become a dying art and fashion-such a shame! We want to reduce waste and landfill, many books will just be pulped which hurts a heavily over populated planet. We wish to reduce isolation and promote healthy mental health. We support people of all ages (have to be over 18 to apply and work with us) abilities and disabilities. The shop is heavily reliant on donations from the public, we do not have regular contracts etc guaranteeing set items- this means the shop is constantly evolving keeping it fresh and exciting as new items turn up we can go on to rehome 😃
Keep an eye out for regular updates on here as we will be advertising some of what we have in the shop (we do get some interesting, unique items) as well as putting items on marketplace or this page with view to selling.
We are always seeking donations- in the main shop we sell clothing of all ages and sizes (downstairs to the shop all clothing is half price), bric a brac, small furniture, all forms of media, electrical items, shoes, jigsaws, jewellery, toys, etc The bookshop itself we do not sell, we give them away with only one rule- 3 free books, per person, per day. You don’t have to return them, we are not a library however you can if you wish, or better still donate any you have and no longer wish to keep- I take everything non fiction or fiction as well as magazines. If you can’t get them to the shop we will collect from you just speak to myself or John and we shall arrange a date and time that suits you best (tends to be after shop shuts on the days we are working). If you want a book and are unable to find it don’t be discouraged, just speak to myself or one of my volunteers and we shall take the name of the book, author and your name/phone number and will ring you if we happen to get it in. There’s no guarantees of course with running on donations however we will always try our best. We take financial donations and have our donation buckets for cash. Anyone wishing to donate by card can through the main shop and we do have a PayPal. No obligation to do so it’s not compulsory but we are a charity end of the day and anything no matter how large or small helps 😃
We are run purely on volunteers and like donations we are always taking on new staff. Do you have spare time and would like to do abit of volunteering for a good cause? Do you want some experience in the workplace- specifically retail and customer service? Are you abit of a bookworm who loves to curl up with a good book? Wanting to improve your mental health by having a new purpose? Come see us at our Bradford branch or pop in to your local one (I will list all our current branches in the next few days) or contact us on here. All you need to do is pick up and fill in your application form that we will give you then simply return it 😃 you can also apply through here or online and your details will be passed to the manager of the appropriate branch. We will reference you if asked for future employment opportunities and you must be 18 and over in order to work with us.
We are a hard working, dedicated, passionate charity that’s very friendly, warm and welcoming. We resemble more a family than we do a team of volunteers. We hope advertising more through social media platforms will enable our charity to continue to thrive and evolve as it has for the past 11 years since started. No matter how small or large a part you wish to play (donations or volunteering your time) we are incredibly grateful. That is why we’ve had such success from the beginning and are continuing to do so - you make it and us happen so thankyou!
Thankyou for reading, please like and share this post and ask your friends/ family to do the same. Please interact with us- new regular updates will start soon 😀
Cheers, Laura
