German speakers in Oswestry can enjoy their own 'mini bookshop'
A vibrant group of German speakers in Oswestry now have their own mini bookshop, thanks to the Age UK shop in the town.
German speakers in Oswestry have been meeting every fortnight for over 12 years and members have always swapped books, music and films but now they have created a shelf of German language books in the Age UK shop on Bailey Street.
Said Ali Tickner, one of the organisers of the group: “Our group is all about using and promoting the German language and between us we had a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books. By donating them to Age UK there’s a joint benefit that the charity can raise vital funds for its important work and the local German-speaking community has access to good quality, “preiswert” reading material on the high street.
“We would like to thank the staff at Age UK for their support with this project and we encourage local German speakers to visit the Oswestry Age UK shop to peruse the German language shelf and perhaps donate their own pre-loved books in German language”.
“The group is made up of fluent German speakers and native speakers living in the UK who enjoy meeting up to socialise and speak in German. We meet every couple of weeks in the Willow Gallery café socially and members come from Wales, Shrewsbury as well as Oswestry – all German speakers are welcome”.
As well as its regular café meetings, members of the group known as Stammtisch Oswestry, undertake a variety of activities and over the years have enjoyed walks, evening meals locally and visits to the Attfield Theatre and the cinema.
Although German language teaching in schools has declined recently, German is the most requested language in job adverts and with over 97 million speakers, is the first language spoken most by people in Europe.
The Age UK shop is at 34 Bailey Street and is open Monday-Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.
German speakers can join Stammtisch Oswestry on Facebook - facebook.com/groups/stammtischoswestry
