Pitlochry Station store raises £250,000 for charity
Volunteers at a Highland Perthshire bookshop are giving themselves a pat on the back - after raising a quarter of a million pounds for charity.
Pitlochry Station Bookshop officially marked the £250,000 milestone last week.
The bookshop, which is based on the station platform, has spent over a decade selling second hand books to commuters.
Since opening in 2006, all of the money raised has been split between a number of local charities with the total at the beginning of this week standing at £250,071.
Amongst the charities benefitting include Tayside Mountain Rescue, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance, Mercy Corps, Highland Perthshire Shopmobility, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland and Cancer Research UK.
Amnesty International also benefited from sales in the bookshop until 2016.
Margaret, one of the many volunteers who help to run the popular bookshop, said she enjoys meeting so many different people every day at the station.
She said: “Everyone here at the bookshop is a volunteer.
“We have a rota but I always get Margaret and Sheila both enjoy volunteering at the Pitlochry Station bookshop messages asking to come in and do more, and I do often because I really enjoy it here.
“The people are really friendly and we get lots of donations.
“Its amazing, people come in with seven books to donate and end up paying and leaving with another seven.
“There is such a variety of books here as well, we have sections on old books, lots of children’s books, sports books and biographies, pretty much anything you can think of.”
She said it is incredibly important so many local and national charities are able to benefit from the bookshop’s success.
Margaret continued: “It is important we raise so much money, and that is down to the people who come in here, donate these books and give up their time.
“It is incredible because whenever you get to a train station you find shops which ask you to pay £8 for a book, but 70 per cent of the books in here are £1.
“I love working here because you meet so many interesting people and they are all so friendly, which is lovely.
“Everyone here does this for nothing and there is no big overheads like most charity shops have, which is great.”
Pitlochry Station Bookshop is open Mondays to Saturdays from 9.30am until 4.30am every day.
The station will continue to take in and sell second hand books, with all profits going to charity.