STAFF at the Oxfam bookshop in Tavistock are hosting an evening of entertainment at the end of this month to celebrate the shop's first birthday.

The birthday falls on January 15 and the first year of operation has been deemed a huge success with the shop having become firmly established in the town.

To acknowledge all the hard work that has gone into the shop over the past 12 months, there will be a party with music and entertainment at Whitchurch Village Hall on January 28.

The evening is primarily to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who have given their time to Oxfam and made the shop the success it is. More than 70 people have been involved over the year and up to 40 different volunteers help run the shop every week.

The celebration is also for friends and family, customers of the shop, those who have generously donated books and anyone who has enjoyed the shop and wants to have a good night out.

The event will be hosted by Jeff Sleeman, who ran Tavistock's original Acoustic Café which raised money for charity, for many years.

The evening will run from 7.30pm to 11pm — tickets cost £7 and can be bought from the Oxfam Bookshop.

Music and entertainment confirmed are classical guitarist Mark Barnwell, who played in the Bookshop for Comic Relief, singer-songwriter Adelia, local duo 1.5 and performance poet Rob Barrett. It is hoped there will also be other local musicians.

There will be an exhibition of photographs from Kenya and Uganda by local photographer Keith Urro who is also a volunteer at the Bookshop, as well as light refreshments, books for sale and a raffle.

Bookshop manager Val Sharpe said: 'Our first year has been amazing.

'It appears that our window displays have been particularly well received by the public and the volunteers who do this should get special thanks.

'The shop has sold over 16,000 books and the donations we have received have been amazing. Lots of the donations are Gift Aided which means Oxfam can recover money from the Inland Revenue if books sell, and since we opened in January 2011 this has raised a further £2,500 for Oxfam which is the equivalent of 100 Oxfam Unwrapped goats to poor communities, just by signing up to the Gift Aid scheme when donating.

'We must thank all our customers and donors for supporting Oxfam. We also thank Andrew Kirby and Lynn White and staff at Mansbridge and Balment in Tavistock and Yelverton. Both branches are helping us by passing on the shop's details to people who are selling their homes and moving, so that if they are turning out their books when packing, they know that we can take them here or that we can help by collecting them.'

For more information about the event or about volunteering for Oxfam contact Val Sharpe on 01822 613901 or Jacky Theobald on 01822 615534.