History of the Cafda Bookshops
In 1961 Cafda opened its first bookshop in Wynberg, managed by Mrs May Reynolds. She came up with the idea after noticing that the public were donating books, which up until that time, were being directed to schools, but most of them had to be recycled.
In its first year of operation, the bookshop raised over two thousand Rand for Cafda. All money raised would be invested in projects on the Cape Flats (e.g., Industrial Training Centre and School Feeding Association), as well as assisting with the organization’s operating costs.
By 1970 the bookshop moved to Warwick Street, Claremont, and was now being run by 17 volunteers. During that decade Cafda opened a second bookshop in Three Anchor Bay, also run by volunteers, including Denise Mattocks. The income provided by the two bookshops covered various projects, such as the social work programme and pre-school care groups.
By the 1980s the Claremont bookshop had moved to Werdmuller Centre, managed by Angus Stewart, and then, much later by Lennie Smith. The other bookshop had moved to Sea Point, which would later be managed by a volunteer, John Stable.
Due to the dedicated staff of volunteers and the generous donations of books from the public, both bookshops achieved sales of One Million Rand for 2003.
Today the bookstores are managed by Michael Meiring. Bradley Jones is the Assistant Manager at the Claremont store.
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