THE Oxfam Bookshop in Tavistock is appealing to the public to bring in spare Jiffy envelopes of all sizes, to help them with posting books.

The bookshop has been selling books on Amazon since January this year, and as this area of work has grown, so has the amount of books sold and the number of packing envelopes needed.

All the books that are sold on Amazon have previously been on sale in the shop but if they do not sell after about three months they are then listed on Amazon to reach a wider audience.

In the last six weeks, the shop has raised an extra £525 by selling 22 books in this way. With £525 Oxfam can provide 66 temporary shelters in crisis areas, or more than 9,000 dinners for schoolchildren in Africa.

The volunteers at the shop are directly involved in all aspects of selling on Amazon — pricing the books, listing them, checking daily for sales and then posting the books out, hence the need for packing envelopes.

Shop manager Val Sharpe said: 'This level of sales is really exciting for us. All our books are donated to us by local people. We always try and sell books in the shop first, but Amazon offers us a bigger market.

'To make over £500 for Oxfam by selling only 22 books is just wonderful. It is a testament to our donors that they donate such amazing books and also to the volunteers who have worked so hard to develop the shop and develop this new area of business.'

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer and would like to find out more, phone Val Sharpe on 01822 613901, or visit the shop at 5 Market Street.

The bookshop is also looking to develop in other ways. Staff are aiming to start making items out of books that cannot be sold, such as picture mounts from illustrations and plates and greetings cards.

Anyone who would like to be involved in this more creative activity which will add to the sales of the shop should get in contact.

Anyone who is able to donate packing envelopes can drop them into the shop.