Community bookshop Guid Reads, based in Stirling, has taken to Twitter and GoFundMe to crowdfund the purchase of its premises.

After starting a community book swap in the park, Ruth Turner was overwhelmed with the response and it got her thinking - how amazing would a community book space be?  Her vision was a cosy second hand book shop that would donate the profits to charity, provide comfy reading chairs, a place open from 10am - 7.30pm manned by volunteers with a kettle and a friendly ear.  A space community groups could use for knit and natter, book clubs, kids read-a-longs and bedtime stories, a safe space where people could come along and feel like they belong somewhere.  Books would be donated by the community and people could make a donation to "buy" them. The vision became a reality, Ruth achieved this and the shop was open with the GoFundMe being used for running costs.

And then this happened, with Ruth posting the following message on their GoFundMe page:

"Help  - landlord potentially selling our shop - we could buy it for £35k - I panicked until I thought  - is 1,000 people investing £35 to have their name written on the outside of the building and receive a free pre-loved book every month for a year silly?"

So, for a £35 "stake" they will write your name on the outside of their shop and give you the option to receive a free pre-loved book every month for a year.

So far, as of 3pm today, they have raised £33,679 of a £40,000 goal on GoFundMe from 902 donors.

We hope you crack this Ruth and team. What an incredible display of the power of the people and the importance of community. We salute you and every person who has contributed to make this happen.

Fundraising page is at www.gofundme.com/f/guid-reads-community-book-shop?qid=f36e74513991a32549230e82a42b08fa