Welshpool Book Raises £2,000 for Five Local Charities

One author's love letter to her hometown just became a £2,000 gift to the people who need it most.

Val Jones wrote "My Memories of Welshpool" to capture the stories of her Welsh community. After covering expenses, every penny from sales went to five local organizations: Welshpool Food Bank, Victoria Memorial Hospital League of Friends, Parkinson's UK Montgomeryshire Branch, The Severn Hospice, and St Mary's Church.

The timing couldn't have been worse. The printers delivered the books the day after the first COVID lockdown began in 2020, when shops were closing and people were staying home.

But the book found its audience anyway. Local retailers stepped up to sell copies despite the uncertainty, and readers responded with encouraging feedback and steady purchases.

The Ripple Effect

Jones's decision to donate the proceeds means her memoir is doing double duty. It preserves the history and character of Welshpool while supporting the organizations that serve its most vulnerable residents today.

The £2,000 will help feed families through the food bank, support hospital patients and their loved ones, fund Parkinson's research and care, provide hospice services for the terminally ill, and maintain the historic St Mary's Church. Five different missions, all strengthened by one community coming together around a book.

Jones credits everyone who made it possible: the readers who bought copies, the shop owners who displayed them, and the community members who spread the word. Their collective support turned what could have been a pandemic publishing disaster into a meaningful contribution to Welshpool's wellbeing.

Sometimes the best way to honor the past is by investing in the present.