I saw something at Hove Station recently that made me smile. Usually I find train stations a bit bleak and depressing. Turns out they only need something simple to make them much nicer places.

Something in Hove Station Made Me Smile

Hove Lions Club installed a bookshelf (pictured above) in the waiting room at Hove Station back in 2012. Hove Lions Club Secretary Ros Belfitt said to The Argus at the time: “All the money collected will go back into the local community. We recently helped an old lady who contacted us after her gas boiler blew up. We paid for an engineer to go out to her and get it fixed.”

Something at Hove Station made me smile

An honesty box is on the bookshelf for people to pay a minimum of £1 for a book in good condition and anything they like for other books.

In previous jobs I have been fortunate enough to travel across the UK regularly. Despite my regular travels I have never seen anything like the bookshelf at Hove Station before. There have been times I have been stuck at a station waiting for a delayed train wishing I had brought a book with me. An initiative like this would have helped prevent hours of boredom!

I think this bookshelf is a great example of how a small simple act can make a difference to others. By putting this bookshelf in the waiting room at Hove Station, Hove Lions Club are encouraging reading, and are making it accessible to people by keeping the minimum price of the books low. They are also giving people the opportunity to help others in a really easy way by using the money raised to support those in need in the local community.

Have you come across anything recently that has made you smile at a train station? Pop over to the Good News Shared Facebook page to let me know about it.

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About Author

Nisha Kotecha is the Founder of Good News Shared. Having worked and volunteered for charities in the UK for over 10 years, Nisha is on a mission to highlight how amazing charities are.

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