STUDENTS at a school in Taunton helped to save the UK's first black specialist bookshop.
Pupils at Taunton School contributed more than £100 to the national crowdfunding campaign, Save New Beacon Bookshop.
The campaign was launched after New Beacon Books, founded in 1966 and based in north London, announced it would be forced to close the store due to the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A crowdfunder was launched in a bid to raise enough money to keep the store open.
Around £85,000 was raised in just a few days and it has now been announced the store could move to new premises.
Students at Taunton School organised a bake sale and a raffle of two books written by black authors to raise money.
They managed to donate £110 to save the bookshop.
Teacher of English and EAL at Taunton School’s International Middle School, Suzette Youngs, said: ”Teaching students about black history through literature, poetry and fiction is an excellent way of developing understanding, empathy and a general awareness of the immense contribution of the Black community to so many aspects of our shared histories.
“We hope to work closely with New Beacon and possibly set up a Q&A session with the bookshop owner in the future. I think that it would be interesting for students to know why diversity and challenging mainstream narratives is so important.”
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