UPDATE: Thanks to the generous people of Birmingham and Coventry, I have collected enough books for two pallets! The £338.80 I had raised before is not enough to cover both pallets. The cost is £454.80 inc. VAT, so I need to raise £116 by Saturday! This is when I will drop the books off at the depot. Any excess raised will be donated to baas and spent on project classes at the school (see below).

As you know, I have been volunteering with Refugee Education Chios. On Monday 14th November we opened a second school building, so we need more books! The school caters for children aged 6-18, so I am collecting secondary school text books (sets and single books), young adult and children's fiction, children's story books and books in Arabic, Farsi and Kurdish (Sorani and Kurmanji). These are being donated by schools and community groups. I am also gathering surplus stock from schools and libraries. With the recent curriculum changes, many schools have textbooks that are surplus to requirements which can be used in Chios, where our resources are more limited, rather than being recycled in the UK!
Instead of giving me presents, I am asking my family to donate towards the cost of shipping the books out there. Any excess money that is raised will be donated to be aware and share (http://www.baas-schweiz.ch), the Swiss charity that runs the school and will be spent on resources for project lessons.
Many of the refugee children in Chios have had their education interrupted by political instability, war and subsequent displacement. I have seen first hand how these children benefit from the opportunity to go to school. Enthusiastic children are given the chance to explore the world around them and learn to read. Dedicated teenagers develop their strengths and plug the gaps torn into their education by war.