Our annual goal is to ship and distribute one million books (500,000 kg) and one thousand computers (3,000 kg) in 25 forty-foot containers to individuals, institutions, and communities across Africa. You can sponsor the processing and shipping costs of 1 forty-foot container carrying 40,000 books and 40 computers with a donation or grant of £8,000. Alternatively, a smaller twenty-foot container carrying 20,000 books and 20 computers can be funded with a donation or grant of £5,000.
Name a school library in Africa after you or your loved one.
Publicity via social media posts, video and a press release.
Access to exclusive sponsor events and impact reports.
You can sponsor one of the following container shipment types.
Description
A 40ft shipping container measuring 40ft x 8ft and weighing 20,000kg, carrying an average of 40,000 books – enough to fill 120 shelves and equip a university or community library.
Processing and Shipping Costs
Your contribution of £8,000 funds the processing and shipping costs from our UK office to a seaport in an African country where we have a Distribution Centre. We ship the container by sea freight within 14 days of receiving your funds and it arrives your country’s port within 3-5 weeks. Our Distribution Centres cover any clearing and destination charges.
Impact Reporting
As our Distribution Centres distribute books to various projects, some books will go to equipping a brand new library for a selected beneficiary project to be named by you. We’ll also send you us photos/videos and impact reports from other beneficiaries of your shipment.
Description
A 20ft shipping container measuring 20ft x 8ft and weighing 10,000kg, carrying an average of 20,000 books – enough to fill 60 shelves and equip a school library.
Processing and Shipping Costs
Your contribution of £5,000 funds the processing and shipping costs from our UK office to a seaport in an African country where we have a Distribution Centre. We ship the container by sea freight within 14 days of receiving your funds and it arrives your country’s port within 3-5 weeks. Our Distribution Centres cover any clearing and destination charges.
Impact Reporting
As our Distribution Centres distribute books to various projects, some books will go to equipping a brand new library for a selected beneficiary project to be named by you. We’ll also send you us photos/videos and impact reports from other beneficiaries of your shipment.
Books2Africa was founded by four African students from Nigeria in 2012 during their time studying in the UK at the University of Kent and the University of York. We believe education is the key to Africa’s development and you can join us in making an immediate and lasting impact today by sponsoring a container shipment of books and computers.
We collect books and computers donated by individuals and organisations across the UK who would otherwise send them to landfill. Our paid staff and volunteers work hard to process these materials at our Canterbury Processing Centre to ensure only relevant materials in good condition are set aside to be shipped to students and teachers across Africa. Our overhead costs (e.g. rent, business rates, utility bills, insurance, equipment costs and marketing) are funded by selling up to 20% of donated books and resources via our online Charity Shop.
This means every penny you donate as a Container Sponsor goes to our 1 Million Books Fund which directly funds the cost of processing and shipping the remaining 80% of donated books and computers to individuals, institutions and communities across Africa.
Make knowledge your legacy.
We are grateful for the individuals and organisations who sponsor container shipments of books and computers to help us achieve our mission.
Begin your impact journey by completing our online sponsorship form to sponsor a container shipment and our bank details will be emailed to you after submitting the form. When your payment is received, our team will process and dispatch relevant books and computers in a 40ft container to a country in Africa where we have a Distribution Centre. You’ll also be able to provide a name to be used for your sponsored library when completing the online form.
On the loading date, a lorry arrives our UK Processing Centre with an empty container and we load it with donated materials using a forklift. The container is then taken to a UK port to be shipped on a vessel and can take 4-6 weeks to arrive at a port in Africa. We work with reputable shippers such as DHL to ensure that customs clearance goes smoothly and is completed within 4 weeks. The container is then transported by road and offloaded at our Distribution Centre.
Our Distribution Centre team display the books received on shelves for people to come and read for free, and for approved beneficiary institutions and projects to get required books to stock their existing libraries. We also select one beneficiary school or project that doesn’t have a library to receive a donation of books for a brand-new library, which the shipment sponsor has named. This can be named after you, a loved one or some other meaningful name acceptable to the school.
When books and computers have been donated to a brand-new school library named after the sponsor of the shipment, we compile and publish an impact report on our website which includes photos and videos from the project, as well as a detailed questionnaire on the impact of the educational materials received on the quality of teaching, learning and the learning environment of recipients. A link to the impact report is also shared with the sponsor.
“The effect of donated books is so great, especially for the kids who are from the villages. They will come in and read books. Sometimes they can’t read but they will open pages and see pictures, and just get excited to have this place. For us, we have times when we come here and study, and also research for our own teaching. And just for amusement! For me, I will just come, sit there in the corner and read. I like reading fiction: horror and also romance books.”
You can find Books2Africa on the following fundraising platforms
We are grateful for the individuals and organisations who sponsor container shipments of books and computers to help us achieve our mission.
Books To Africa International is a UK registered charity (1152599) and a UK company limited by guarantee (08528635).
An organisation in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2017.
We do not store credit card details nor do we share financial details with any third parties.
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