A COLCHESTER woman who is celebrating 21 years working for Boydens estate agency has just been appointed Chairman of the local NSPCC book fair committee as it prepares for its 21^st fair.

Elisabeth Borg is senior consultant at Boydens, which has been a long-term sponsor of the NSPCC book fair, and says she is delighted to accept her new role with the charity.

“In a year when I’m celebrating 21 years with Boydens, it’s somewhat symbolic that I will be helping the NSPCC prepare for its ‘coming of age’ book fair. It’s a challenge I’m really looking forward to. It’s been a very successful event during the past 20 years so the task is to make sure we continue to build on this success,” she said.

Elisabeth, who is part of the presidential team at ARLA’s (Association of Residential Letting Agents) divisional council as Members Advisory Forum representative, will be looking to work with local businesses to generate more support for the book fair.

During its 20 years, the annual book fair has sold more than 350,000 books, raising £150,000 for the charity. It is now the largest non-corporate NSPCC fundraising event in the eastern region. 70 people help during the weekend itself, in October, and around 25 people work throughout the year, collecting, sorting and pricing books.

Elisabeth added: “Boydens will be sponsoring the event again this year but my aim is to get as many other local businesses involved as possible. We also need more non-fiction books to be donated. Anyone who has books they would like to donate can contact Anne Crisell on 01206 271616.”