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Michael, Clive and festival director Alistair Moffat |
Book Aid International headed up north in June to the Borders Book Festival in the Scottish Borders, to raise money towards our work and spread the word that books change lives. The fundraising kicked off in style with a Champagne Reception hosted by Michael Palin on Thursday 18th June. A packed tent heard from Book Aid International Director, Clive Nettleton, before Michael spoke about his experiences in Africa and his support for Book Aid International. As well as purchasing tickets, guests on the night donated over £700 in cash, encouraged by Michael, who got the ball rolling with his own generous gift. He said:
“I am delighted to be appearing at this year’s Border’s Book Festival in support of Book Aid International, a charity that I have been working with for five years now. People who go to book festivals are naturally all book-lovers, and what an ideal opportunity this is for them to help others become book-lovers, too.”
Amongst the 90 guests were comedian Rory Bremner and author Joan Bakewell, with musical entertainment provided by Lori Watson and the Band of Three.
Festival-goers continued to donate all weekend, and when a further donation from the festival committee was added, Book Aid International staff and volunteers helped raise nearly £3,000 with pledges of gifts still to come.
Many thanks to the organisers of the festival who invited us along this year. We do hope we will be there again next year! To find out more about this fantastic festival, visit the Borders Book Festival website.