The St. Rocco’s specialist book and media shop has been open in the centre of Lymm, at 8 Bridgewater St, since 2019. Based in an old betting shop it offers over 1000sq ft of books, organised into categories that are more than enough to keep even the most discerning bibliophile happy.

We spoke to Paul Tonge, our Retail operations manager, to find out more about the shop. “We realised a number of years back, that because of the quality and quantity of books that were being donated to us, we could set up a specialist book shop to cater for the more discerning reader,” said Paul.

“When this unit retail unit became available in the centre of Lymm, it was the ideal position for us, so we jumped at the chance to open there.”

Recycle to help the environment

Staffed entirely by volunteers, it is the only one of our shops to be open 7 days a week. Stocked with a wide range of fiction and categorised non-fiction books, the shop offers vinyl records, DVDs and CDs for sale as well. In addition, it has been donated and sold a number of quality musical instruments.

“Some of the more niche and specialist books are sent to our award-winning eBay store which enables them to reach a much wider audience,” said Paul. “This is great as it enables us to recycle rare books at a time when everyone is focussed on protecting the environment and reusing what we already have.

“So, people donating books to us not only help the Hospice to continue to provide its care, but they are also helping the environment as well. A win-win situation!”