Donate your books and computers by arranging a collection or drop-off at a book donation point near you

How We Work

Our ‘readcycling’ model is designed to extend the life of educational materials by preventing perfectly usable materials such as books and computers from going to recycling or landfill sites in the UK. According to the UK Government’s Waste Strategy, “we use too much and are too ready to throw things away, and this waste causes damage if it is not managed properly. We can no longer ignore this” (p 15). 

Package Your Items

Use any strong cardboard boxes (or buy some here) to package your items. Use bubble wrap for fragile items and secure the boxes with tape ready to begin their journey to a new home in Africa.

Arrange Collection or Drop-off

Complete our online booking form to arrange a collection from your address or schedule a drop-off appointment at a Books2Africa Drop-off Point near you. Write your booking reference on your boxes.

Track Your Impact

At our Processing Centre, we check and scan your items into our database using your booking reference. You'll get email notifications when your books are shipped and a picture of the recipient when delivered.

Types of Items We Accept

Please take some time to read what we accept before sending us your items.

Books We Accept

How we process donated books

Each of your donated books will be scanned and catalogued at our Processing Centre to create a record of all your donated books. A minimum of 80% of donated books are allocated to one of several subject categories and palletised together with similar books from other donors ready for shipping to projects in Africa. The remaining 20% consists of books that are sold via our Charity Shop to fund our overheads and about a small minority of damaged books which are recycled responsibly.

Computers We Accept

How we process donated computers

We are a Microsoft Third Party Refurbisher (TPR) and our Tech Team checks and refurbishes donated technology in line with Microsoft’s standards, ensuring all data on devices are securely wiped. We wipe data from compatible devices using BitRaser – a secure drive wiping software tested and approved by the NIST which also generates 100% tamper-proof digitally signed certificates that ensure compliance with various national & international data protection regulations. 

Other Items We Accept

These items are mainly sold via our Charity Shop to raise funds for the charity. 

Shoes

Toys and Games

DVDs

Sports Equipment

Bags

How to Package Your Items

Choose how to send your items

You can arrange a collection from your address, deliver to a Drop-off Point near you, or deliver to our Processing Centre in Canterbury.

Arrange a Collection

£ 8 Minimum donation per 20kg box

Deliver to a Drop-off Point

£ 3
50
Minimum donation per 20kg box
  • Deliver your boxes during opening hours
  • New Drop-off Points added frequently
  • Get a booking reference to track your items

Deliver to Canterbury

Free per 20kg box
  • Deliver your boxes during opening hours
  • Processing Centre located in Canterbury
  • Get a booking reference to track your items
  • Get a tour of our facility on arrival

Organise a Readcycling Week

Why don’t you get others to join in by organising a Readcycling Week at your workplace, place of study of community. Readcycling Week is our campaign for people to organise collections of donated books and laptops from the network and raise funds towards the cost of sending them to Africa.

What happens to your items at our Processing Centre?

Check out the videos below for a glimpse of how we process your donated books and computers.

Play Video
Play Video

Thank You For Readcycling!