• Swindon & Wiltshire Social
• Tuesday September 8 2026

Shipment from book charity’s Swindon warehouse supports readers in Sudan

Book Aid International is sending 18,000 brand-new books to Sudan, supporting students and researchers whose access to learning has been devastated by war.

Partners receiving books are the University of Khartoum, the Sudan Academic Libraries Initiative and Windle Trust International, with the majority of the books supporting higher education.

The conflict that began in April 2023 has had a catastrophic impact on Sudan’s education system.

Out of 12.5 million enrolled learners before the war, nine million are now out of school.

The scale of destruction to Sudan’s academic infrastructure is immense. Eighty per cent of higher education institutions are no longer operational, and 124 universities and colleges have been destroyed or looted, along with 241 libraries.

The higher education and medical texts that the University of Khartoum and the Sudan Academic Libraries Initiative will receive are vital to students continuing their learning and to support the recovery that will eventually follow.

As Wahbi A. Abdalrahman at Sudan Academic Libraries Initiative said: “Following the outbreak of the April 2023 war, the country’s library sector has faced unprecedented challenges.

“This donation will help strengthen access to knowledge, support teaching and research, and contribute to preserving educational opportunities for students whose studies have been profoundly affected by the ongoing crisis.”

The shipment is part of Book Aid International’s commitment to supporting readers in communities living through crisis.

In Ukraine, Book Aid International has provided more than 86,000 books to libraries damaged in the ongoing war.

In Cameroon, the charity has been working with partners to provide children’s books in the country’s Northwest and Southwest regions since 2016.

Alison Tweed, chief executive of Swindon-based Book Aid International, said: “We are pleased to be able to support those continuing their work and studies by sending carefully-selected, brand-new books to Sudan.

“Whenever conflict destroys books and libraries, the people who need access to information most can find themselves cut off from it entirely.

“We work to ensure that in times of crisis communities are not left without the books they need and are grateful to the UK publishers who support us to do this vital work.”

All of the books Book Aid International provides are donated by UK publishers, and the charity is calling on publishers to help it do more.

Donated books help ensure that students, medical professionals and readers in Sudan and around the world have access to the books they need.