Read It? READ It!

Donate your old books in the READ International book bins

Recycling and waste management services provider Veolia is encouraging residents of the City of Westminster and the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Tower Hamlets and Haringey to deposit their unwanted books in one of the READ International book bins that are situated in locations across each of these areas.
 
Donating books to READ International ensures that no book gets sent to landfill or incineration but are used to provide the resources required for children to learn in one of the world’s poorest countries, Tanzania. This is achieved by creating libraries from abandoned classrooms, using some of the books donated within the UK, selling books in good condition that are unsuitable for Tanzanian schools through READ’s selling partner Better World Books to help fund the programmes in Tanzania, and recycling the rest.
 
Pascal Hauret, Veolia’s Regional Director for London, said: “We are committed to developing strong partnerships with socially responsible organisations such as READ International, who share our core values and who provide fantastic opportunities for children in one of the most deprived areas of the world.  We encourage residents to make use of the book bins to ensure no book is wasted.”
 
Rob Wilson, Founder of READ International, said: “Imagine trying to learn without books or a space to study. We work in Tanzania, one of the world’s poorest countries, where we use a unique, youth-led volunteer model, to provide thousands of students each year with great books and libraries to study in. Back in the UK we can make a huge difference by doing something very simple – donating our used books. Please don’t leave your books on a shelf gathering dust, donate them to READ through a Veolia book bin and help us support school children in Tanzania.”
 
Cllr Richard Beddoe, Westminster City Council’s Cabinet Member for City Management, said: “I wholeheartedly encourage Westminster residents to make use of the Veolia book bins located across the city. This recycling scheme is a double whammy – as well as helping to reduce unnecessary waste, it also gives young people on the other side of the world access to books and resources they might not otherwise have had. Westminster City Council is delighted to support such an innovative and worthwhile project.” 
 
Cllr Jennifer Brathwaite, Lambeth Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability, said: “The READ International book bins are a great initiative to not only clear out and recycle books that we’ve read, but also to spread the joy of reading to those less fortunate than us.  I’m sure every single book donated means a great deal to children who otherwise might not have an opportunity to read, learn and achieve their full potential.  You never know, a book sitting on the shelf at home could prove the inspiration for the next great Tanzanian author!”
 
Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman said: “We support this great initiative from Veolia and READ International designed to reduce the waste the borough sends to landfill and improve the lives of Tanzanian children. We encourage residents to donate books they have read in the book bins provided instead of throwing them away.”
 
Cllr Shahed Ali, Tower Hamlets Cabinet Member for Clean and Green, added: “This is a great opportunity for residents to dispose of any unwanted books they may have lying around the home. Tower Hamlets only sends around 10% of waste to landfill and this scheme also benefits people internationally who really need the resources.”
 
Residents can deposit their used or unwanted books in the book bins which are situated at the following locations:
 
Westminster:
 

  • Paddington Street, Marylebone (outside Paddington Street Gardens) 
  • Inverness Terrace, Bayswater (by entrance to Hallfield Estate)
  • Moscow Road, Bayswater (outside electricity substation)
  • Warwick Avenue (by Tube Station)
  • Marylebone Road (outside Council House)
  • Marylebone Road (junction with Luxborough Street)
  • Aberdeen Place, Lisson Grove (junction with Cunningham Street)
  • Acacia Road (outside St John's Wood Station)
  • Wellington Place, St John's Wood (near public toilet)
  • Erasmus Street, Westminster (junction with Cureton Street)

 
Lambeth:
·         Baylis Road, entrance to Millenium Green
·         Wandsworth Road, junction with Thessaly Road
·         Streatham High Road, junction with Gracefield Gardens
·         Barrington Road shop parade, junction with Loughborough Road
·         Norwood Road, outside Texaco
Tower Hamlets:

  • Spitalfields City Farm, Weaver Street
  • Antill Road, junction with Grove Road
  • Chrisp St Market, junction with East India Dock Road (next to the clothes bank)
  • Vaughan Way, near Waitrose
  • Vallance Road, junction with Old Montague Street

Haringey
·         Town Hall Approach Road, N15
·         Cranley Gardens, N8 – Junction with Park Road N8
·         Colney Hatch Lane, N10 – Junction with Alexandra Park Road
·         Tottenham Lane, N8 – Junction with Rokesley Avenue
·         North Hill, N6 – Outside Hillcrest Estate
...
Notes to the Editor
 
 
About Veolia UK
 
We are committed to protecting the environment and improving the lives of the communities in which we operate and have been awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development and received a Four Star rating in Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index for 2014.
 
Veolia group is the global leader in optimised resource management. With over 179,000 employees* worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and helps to replenish them.
In 2014, the Veolia group supplied 96 million people with drinking water and 60 million people with wastewater service, produced 52 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 31 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE and NYSE: VE) recorded consolidated revenue of €24.4 billion* in 2014.
 
(*) 2014 pro-forma figures including Dalkia International (100%) and excluding Dalkia France
 

Contact
 
Dan Lester
Tel.+ 44 (0)7920 295 715
[email protected]
   
 

For more information visit us at www.veolia.co.uk or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/veoliauk.
 
About READ International
 
READ International was founded in 2004 by a group of socially entrepreneurial students at Nottingham University. The idea of collecting books and distributing them abroad was born out of one student’s travels in Tanzania, where he observed first-hand a distinct lack of access to educational resources and decided to take direct action to address the issue.
 
READ International has donated over 1.3 million books to Tanzania and created 56 libraries in Secondary Schools.
 
Our mission is to improve access to educational resources for young people in Tanzania and support them in skills and capacity development.
 
READ International believes that young people have the ability to create change in their world, and that education is their most powerful tool. READ International recognises that educational development is a priority in Tanzania.
 
For more information visit us at http://readinternational.org.uk/