​Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
In order to facilitate their activities supporting animals in need, the Phoenix Association undertakes several fund raising activities. Central to these are the Book Fairs.
Twice a year we hold a Book fair at a central venue in Bergerac. Here we sell second hand books in English, French and Dutch; the main categories being Fiction, Non-Fiction and Collectibles.
Also for sale are CDs, DVDs and vinyl, as well as a large bric-à-brac stall and a delicious selection of sandwiches, cakes, pastries and hot and cold drinks.
Click and Collect
We operate a Click and Collect service. This service applies only to English fiction books.
​
Click and Collect is designed
(a) To help you avoid the hassle of jostling with people at the Book Fair
(b) To give you the first chance of finding any books
(c) To let you purchase your books at leisure
(d) To give you more time to explore the other stalls
​​
Books can be collected from the fiction stall (at Salle Rene Coicaud in Bergerac) on Fair Day.
Alternatively, we can hold them at our book store facility in Bergerac for collection on a Friday by pre-arrangement.
​
The cost is1€20 per book plus a search fee of 1 euro per book, up to a maximum of 5 euros. You only pay for the books we find – there is no fee if we search and can’t find a book. For example:
16 books = 16 x 1.20 + 5 = 24.20 euros
4 books = 4 x 1.20 + 4 = 8.80 euros
​
Donate Items
If you wish to donate books, CDs, DVDs or records to us, this can be done in one of three ways:
• Bring them with you to a book fair. At each fair there is an area where donations can be left and we will transport them to our depot for sorting. Please ensure books are either boxed or in shopping bags.
​
• Take them to our depot in Bergerac on one of the days we are open for sorting. Our contact details are below and it is advised you check beforehand to ensure the depot will be open on the day you plan to visit.
​
If you cannot take your donations to either a fair or our depot, please contact the Book Donations Team via the button below.
Consideration when donating items
Thank you for wishing to donate books to the Phoenix Association. Your support is invaluable, but please take the time to read and understand the following:
The aim of the Phoenix Book Fairs is to raise money for our own activities and other animal welfare organisations by selling books that have been donated to us.
It takes considerable time and effort to sort the items we sell and to prepare for each Fair. Therefore any item we are given that is not in a saleable condition is a distraction, as we have to dispose of them as ethically as possible. This takes time and effort, which detracts from our main objective. We have developed the following guidelines in an effort to minimise the amount of donated books that have to be discarded:
Please assess your books and ask the basic question: would you buy them?
​
Any book that has the following faults will be discarded as unsaleable:
-
Torn covers or missing/damaged pages
-
Misshapen
-
Ingrained dust, brown spots/patches or discolouration on the outside or edges
-
Have patches of mould or a musty smell
​​
We are currently disposing of several hundred books each week because they do not meet these criteria. You can help us reduce costs by inspecting your donations before giving them to us. Please also ensure the books are packed in boxes or shopping bags when passing them to us. Packing the in bin bags causes irreparable damage.
​​
If you have books that do not meet our criteria, you can recycle them free of charge at the T.R.I. (note, not the déchetterie) in Bergerac. It is situated in the Route d’Agen, north of the rocade, close to Jardiland and is open Mon - Thu: 9H - 12H, 13h - 17h (9h - 12h Fri)
The Book Team
​​Our bookfair activities are activities are undertaken by the Book Team.
We take approximately 25,000 books to each fair plus the other items we sell to raise funds. All these items are donated. The processing of these donations requires a year-round sorting process which never ceases. The sorting is done at our depot in Bergerac and requires a continual effort by a team of volunteers to ensure the books are quality controlled and prepared for sale, and those that cannot be sold are properly recycled.
In addition, there is another team of volunteers that provides a network to collect donations from a wide area and deliver them for sorting.​
​
