Book trade charities merge

The Book Trade Charity is merging with The Bookbinders Charitable Society to provide “more effective and efficient services to a wider range of beneficiaries”.

The Book Trade Charity, formerly the Book Trade Benevolent Society, was founded in 1837 and provides accommodation for people who work or have worked in the book trade in Kings Langley. It merged with the Matthew Hodder Charitable Trust in 2015 and also supports initiatives that help young people enter the industry and those that encourage reading.

The Bookbinders Charitable Society supports past employees from bookbinding, book production and related fields and also manages accommodation for people in need.

David Hicks, chief executive of The Book Trade Charity, said: “We recognise that there are many eligible people who have worked in the trade but do not realise that these venerable benevolent funds could be helping with the very real problems that they are facing.  We hope that the combined strength of these charities will enable more individuals in need to be reached; they have served the industries, now it is our turn to help when they encounter difficult personal circumstances.”