​Our second-hand bookshop in Thornbury is the most successful fundraising activity our club has ever undertaken and is the envy of many clubs. We are very proud of what we have achieved, and grateful for the residents of Thornbury and surrounding area for being our customers. We are also immensely thankful to our loyal shop volunteers without whom we would have been unable to have been so successful.

It all started in 2006, when one of our Lion members whilst on holiday saw a charity selling second-hand books to raise funds. Bringing this idea back to Thornbury, with the aid of a trailer and agreement with St Mary Centre, the Lions started a Saturday morning bookstall in all weathers achieving modest takings

​In November 2011, St Mary Centre very kindly gave us the opportunity to use a vacant shop in the precinct. This greatly improved our fundraising activity with the ability to stock a greater range of books and able to operate 6 days a week. However, as new traders moved into the centre we had to periodically move into other vacant premises, but we were given generous help by other local organisations and loan of moving equipment by Aldi supermarket to allow this.

In 2014 we moved into our current premises and in 2015 we made the bold decision to become permanent residents in the shop by paying rent. This had an impact on our income but removed the risk of being homeless as at the time vacant premises were becoming scarce. 
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A few years later unfortunately, like so many others, the Covid pandemic had an adverse effect on our activities. When government restrictions allowed, the shop did open for limited hours four mornings a week whilst complying with Covid restrictions. We also had to limit the number of books which could be donated to us, as they had to be quarantined before placing on the shelves. This drastically reduced our funds available to donate, but this did not stop our ability to support causes, especially those seeing more demand as a result of the pandemic, such as foodbanks.

​Since we became permanent residents in the precinct the shop has gone from strength to strength, operating six days a week on a two shift basis each day. We stock an extensive and varied range of books, with jigsaws recently being added proving to be a great success especially during the winter months. To supplement the Lion members working in the shop, we have an excellent and helpful group of volunteers. We are always looking for new volunteers, and so if you are interested why not pop into our shop for a chat or contact us, we would love to hear from you.

​​In 2021 our bookshop celebrated its 10th anniversary, and to commemorate this achievement we gave away over 3000 bookmarks with each purchase and also stickers with children’s books.

​To commemorate significant events such as the shops anniversary and the Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum anniversary the shop often has an eye-catching window displays.

The bookshop has become an integral part of the local community and we are visited by many regular customers both locally and from further afield. Shop proceeds have allowed the club to make over £300K in donations to dozens of local and national charities, and to worldwide disaster relief funds. This support has been greatly appreciated, helping many groups and organisations continue their assistance to the wider community and fund their respective projects. We are very grateful for the help and support from St Mary Centre in our continued success.
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Thornbury Lions are looking forward to future years success with the shop, and the ability to continue generating much needed financial assistance for local and national charities and worldwide disaster appeals.