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Chapter Two

Your community

bookshop

Chapter Two

Find us on Chesham High Street, near the clock tower!

Chapter Two is a community bookshop selling pre-loved books, gifts, vinyl and stationery with all profits to The Hospice of St Francis.

Our Book Subscription Service!

Our Book Subscription Service!

A wonderful gift for any book lover. Give us a few details and we will do the rest! Choose from 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions - these 'Books for Good' will be supporting our local hospice care!

Find out more

Chapter Two Christmas Lights Switch-on

Friday 22nd November

6 to 9 pm

Santa's Grotto and Tombola!

returned-to-glory

Events

November 2024 Programme               

Saturday mornings - Storytime - At 10.30 a.m.

Wednesday 6th November – Author Event 
An evening with Daniel Finkelstein
presenting his powerful memoir 'Hitler, Stalin, Mum & Dad'.
The event takes place at the Denton, Berkhamsted at 7 p.m. Tickets: £25 including a copy of the book.

Sunday 10th November - Papercraft Workshops.
Make your own Christmas Stars and Snowflakes out of preloved paper​.
9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
& Sunday 24th November at 1p.m. to 4 p.m.
Tickets: £15

Thursday 14th November - Diversity Book Club. 
This month’s book: 'Women in Peril' by Jessie Ren Marshall.
All welcome. From 5.30 p.m.

Saturday 16th November – Meet and Greet. 
Adrian Lacey
shares his magical adventures in his book ‘A Little Piece of Me’ to help spread some community cheer & positivity.
From 10.30 a.m.

Friday 22nd November – Christmas in Chesham 
Meet Santa in the Christmas Grotto
at Chapter Two and get a present.
From 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Cost: £3 per child.

Tuesday 26th November – Author Event 
Sean Hannam
will be interviewing music author and journalist Rob Chapman about his latest book, a work of fiction, 'Unsung : Unsaid: Syd and Nick in Absentia'.  
At: 7 p.m. Tickets: £10

Events take place at Chapter Two and are FREE unless otherwise stated.

Donations welcome with all profits going to the Hospice of St Francis

For more information on any of our events please ask a member of staff who will be happy to help

A few of the five star reviews from Google

Fantastic bookshop, serving a great cause but unlike many jumble-sale style charity shops it creates a wonderful cosy space, with themed sections, and well thought out initiatives beyond the books.

I was given Books for Good for a whole year - and what a truly wonderful present it has been. Mark made the most imaginative choices and introduced me to a range of authors I had never read.

A very welcome addition to the Chesham High Street. They organise events like poetry evenings and book launches to support local authors. It is no exaggeration to say this is Britain's Best Bookshop.

It is an absolutely unique and quirky bookshop, and all proceeds go to charity. Imagination has been put into the design of this shop and I loved it! Not just books but gifts and interesting items.

Great shop with very attentive and knowledgeable staff. Great ideas for gifts and good quality presents. Definitely one of the best bookshops I’ve been to.

Amazing atmosphere for a charity shop. Makes me wish the Chesham library has as cosy a vibe. Best selection of books in town.

Location

10 High St, Chesham, HP5 1EP

Tel: 01494 791260

Email: chaptertwo@stfrancis.org.uk

Opening Hours:

Monday to Friday: 9.30am to 4.30pm

Saturday: 9.30am to 5.00pm

Sunday: 10.00am to 4.00pm

Want to get in touch? Drop us an email on chaptertwo@stfrancis.org.uk or 
message us on social media!

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Su outside shop

Su recently became the shop Manager at Chapter Two, the Hospice bookshop in Chesham! She describes Chapter Two as a ‘friendly, happy community space’. 

"I joined the Chapter Two team as a volunteer in 2021, working on Saturday mornings to coincide with my teaching role. As teaching was becoming more admin focused, I applied for and got the Deputy Manager role in June 2022 and, subsequently, following the interview process, took on the Shop Manager role in September 2023. I only knew the Hospice through the shop and walking past before I applied to be a volunteer. 

Chapter Two has grown and developed in the two years since I started.  It has a thriving customer base and, following our support of events in the High Street, is the happy place for volunteers and customers alike. We pride ourselves on our offering and get a lot of praise from customers (and their pets) for the wonderful community appeal.  

My daily job is a juggling act! We have loads of lovely donations every day, sometimes up to 1000 books when it’s busy.  My team are amazing and help clean, gift aid, price and store these books. We have different routes to market – in the shop, high value items in the cabinet, good quality or new books online and sometimes we are lucky enough to be donated a valuable book which goes to auction so checking through the donations is therefore a very careful and precise task. 

We have a wonderful team of volunteers and young people working towards their DoE Awards. We are lucky enough to have more than 35 regular volunteers who all help make the shop warm and welcoming. It is a pleasure to work with so many interesting people who give their time willingly to support the Hospice.  

I enjoy planning and implementing the window displays with my creative team which receive a wide range of positive comments from the public, particularly for the main displays such as Christmas, Easter and local events such as Hats Off.  We also put on a number of events in the shop during the year, some monthly such as the Diversity Book Club and Open Mic Poetry evenings, and others which are specific to a book launch or a local artist from the community displaying their work. I enjoy meeting these diverse people and helping make their event a success.   

I love retail.  I owned a shop many years ago and enjoy the interaction with customers as every customer is different and so it is very motivating to listen to their stories and find a suitable book for them or for customers to give as a present. 

My favourite memory of the shop is winning the Muddy Stilettos Award for the Best Bookshop in Bucks & Oxon in 2023.  This meant so much as it was voted on by the general public, our volunteers and customers.  Everyone was smiling as a result!”  

Blog: The Next Chapter...

Meet Mark Jackson-Hancock, our book expert.

Alongside guest blogs, he'll be sharing his thoughts about reading and all things book-related in this new blog: The Next Chapter...!

Mark has worked in bookshops all his life including Ottakar's, Waterstones, the House of Commons bookshop and the Chorleywood Bookshop. He spent five years operating a library service to ships at sea and recently worked for the Book Trade Charity in Kings Langley managing their book sales.

Mark-Jackson-Hancock
Diversity Book Club

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Diversity Book Club

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Reading and Wellbeing: Ben Batten’s ‘A Bussa of Blessings’

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Reading and Wellbeing: Ben Batten’s ‘A Bussa of Blessings’

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Why Read Orwell?

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Why Read Orwell?

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Charlottes Blog

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Childhood Reading!

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Our Local Community...

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Our Local Community...

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Lockdown Reading Recommendations

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Lockdown Reading Recommendations

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LGBT+ Books

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LGBT+ Books

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Don't judge a book by its cover...judge it by the first sentence!

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Don't judge a book by its cover...judge it by the first sentence!

Read more
Pick Up A Penguin

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Pick Up A Penguin

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The countdown begins!

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The countdown begins!

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Reading versus Television

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Reading versus Television

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Reading for Wellbeing

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Reading for Wellbeing

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We have some exciting opportunities for highly motivated people to join us at the Hospice of St Francis!

Click to find out about our workshops

New Autumn/Winter programme of workshops now available to book

Learn more

Download the 'My Charity Shop App'

  • Easier donations with your Gift Aid Donorcard

  • Track your environmental impact

  • Updates and sale info from our shops!

  • Stay up to date with your local hospice

Click to find out about our gift shop

Designer gift shop, number twenty

Learn more

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