The Chiswick Book Festival has donated £6,000 to charities, following last September’s Festival featuring Gyles Brandreth, Ed Balls and Clare Balding.
It was one of the first Chiswick events to be held in Chiswick in 2021 in front of live audiences following the lockdown, though numbers were limited for safety reasons.
The Festival is a non-profit-making community event that gives all its surplus income, after costs, to reading and community charities. £1,500 is going to each of its 2021 charities:
- Doorstep Library, which recruits volunteers to read to children and has set up an online reading service
- InterAct Stroke Support, which provides actors to read books to stroke patients
- The Felix Project, which collects surplus food and delivers it to charities and schools
- St Michael & All Angels Church, which hosts, runs and administers the Festival and is itself a charity.
Since it started in 2009, the Festival has raised more than £109,000 for charities – and it has now invited the public to nominate new charities for consideration.
Torin Douglas, director of the Chiswick Book Festival, said: “We were delighted to be back in front of live audiences again and pleased to be able to make these donations, even though we limited the capacity of our venues. We’re very grateful to our authors, audiences and sponsors, who made it possible.
“We are now reviewing our charities, as we do every few years, and inviting people to suggest reading-related charities we can consider for support, alongside our existing charities. Nominations should be emailed to admin@chiswickbookfestival.net by 28 February 28, 2022. More details can be found on the Charities Review page of our website.” The 2022 Chiswick Book Festival will take place between 7 and 14 September. Be the first to know about our exciting programme plans – join our mailing list!