Last weekend’s Lifeline Big Book Fair has hit an all time record! The three-day event took over $115,000 in sales, the profits of which will go toward funding Lifeline South Coast’s 24-hour telephone counselling service in the Illawarra and South Coast.

But that was not the only record broken - over 6,500 people browsed through the 60,000 books that were on display. The most popular categories were children’s, art, cooking, biographies and paperbacks.

Lifeline South Coast’s Executive Director, Grahame Gould, said the Book Fair has been so successful due to the support of many people.

“A huge thank you must first go to all the volunteers who helped out over the weekend and in the lead-up to the event. Their dedication and commitment has ensured another great Book Fair”.

“The support we receive from the community is also fantastic. From donating books all year round to visiting the event this weekend to help raise money for our telephone counselling service. People in the Illawarra are so generous,” he said.

“Thanks also to the wonderful people who donated books before coming in and browsing through the Fair. Southern.IML Pathology staff volunteer their time to collect these books and they certainly had their work cut out for them,” Grahame said.

One fascinating item for sale at the Fair was an 1872 final sixth edition copy of Darwin’s Origin of Species. Jule Krause from Primbee was fourth in the queue and waited a remarkable two hours for the gates to the Fair to open. It was worth it though – she managed to beat 3 other serious buyers to snatch the treasure for $500.

Lifeline’s Big Book Fair is the major fundraising event for Lifeline South Coast. Funds raised at the Fair go toward supporting Lifeline South Coast’s 24-hour telephone counselling service in the Illawarra and South Coast. Contrary to popular belief, Lifeline receives only 20% of its funding from the government.

The next Big Book Fair will be held between 26^th and 28^th March 2010 at Kembla Grange Racecourse.

Lifeline South Coast is a local service, which means that the funds raised locally stay here in our community and are used to help local people talk about their problems and find ways to solve them.

Each year, Lifeline South Coast receives 12,000 calls from people in the Illawarra and South Coast.

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Grahame Gould is available for interview by calling 0409 912 391.

Contact: Grahame Gould Executive Director 0409 912 391

Phone: 0409 912 391