Help the Rural Child Charity Shops actually has its origins in Catholic Welfare and Development (CWD). In 1998 CWD was looking for new ways to generate an income and decided to start a second hand bookshop. The perfect location was found in Mowbray: A two storey new restored Victorian building on Durban Road’s very busy corner. The bookshop opened its doors on 1 July 1998 with a shop manager and 12 valiant volunteers. The bookshop went from strength to strength and grew to eventually include the second floor.
In 2006, a decision was made to become independent of CWD and Help the Rural Child Trust was formed to support rural children through the Goedgedacht Trust. By 2007, a second shop had opened. This time it was a clothing and bric-a-brac shop on the ground floor of the Mowbray Bookshop and, this too, became a success.
Help The Rural Child Charity Shops has grown to presently include seven retail shops, a mobile bookshop and an online children’s bookshop. With the continued enthusiastic support of the public, we can continue with this well-loved initiative.