Store volunteers Mike Sumner, Jacob Atkins, Sandra Cashmore, Pete Yates and Claret Nnamoko outside the Amnesty bookshop in Kentish Town

IT isn’t just a nice place to buy a pre-loved tome, or to help make space on your bookshelf for new volumes by handing over donations.

Every time a customer buys a book at Amnesty International’s Kentish Town store, funds are raised for the organisation’s global human rights work.

But now the bookshop on Kentish Town Road faces closure – and volunteers and regulars have launched a campaign to change Amnesty’s mind.

The pressure group have nine second-hand bookstores on high streets and have been auditing whether they make enough of a profit to be worth maintaining.

Volunteers at the Kentish Town branch have been told their shop doesn’t make a profit and is set to close.

In an email sent to volunteers, Amnesty said: “For some time, we have been carrying out a review of the profitability of our high street shops, and our online bookshop. These shops are part of our fundraising operation and exist to deliver a profit and so contribute funds to support Amnesty’s human rights work.

“Sadly, some of our shops have for some years – and are forecast to continue – to make a loss, which means these shops are no longer financially viable.”

The email added they greatly valued the work of volunteers and said the economic issues were nothing to do with poor management.

The email added: “This is in no way a reflection of the commitment, capability or work ethic of the team. These findings are based on factors beyond anyone’s control.

“As a result, a consultation process has started with affected AIUK paid staff members, with a proposal to close shops that are operating at a sustained loss, including our York, Great Malvern, Kentish Town & Hammersmith high street shops and the online book shop.”

A consultation period is running until mid-July while staff and customers have set up a petition to try and persuade Amnesty to change their minds.

Staff there say the figures Amnesty are using might not reflect the shop’s success today and sales are going from strength to strength.

Volunteer Jacob Atkins said: “At this stage, the volunteers are primarily asking for a longer consultation and more transparency so that we can create a thorough counter-proposal. We want further information on the figures Amnesty has used to calculate that the shop is not sustainable.

“We believe they have not taken into account this year’s numbers, which are so far much better than last year’s because Kentish Town Tube station has reopened.

“We have started using Gift Aid, raised our baseline paperback price, and generally seen a significant improvement in our sales. We also suspect that high costs are being imposed on the shops by head office, and we don’t have any transparency about what they are. Going forward, we think the bookshop is on a footing to be a net contributor to Amnesty’s fundraising, as well as a great ambassador for the cause by maintaining a much-loved bookshop on Kentish Town’s high street and taking advantage of it to host more Amnesty and books-related events.”

The Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum has urged members to sign the online petition at the website Change.org. Deputy chairwoman Dee Searle said: “KTNF is concerned to hear that the Amnesty Bookshop is under threat.  A key policy of the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Plan is to support our high street as a thriving place to shop, work and live. Kentish Town Road has several charity shops and each one brings its own character and value. This is particularly true of the Amnesty Bookshop, which is an asset to the community.”

An Amnesty spokeswoman said no decisions had been confirmed but they were looking at branches running at a “sustained loss”.

They added: “Bookshops are part of our fundraising operations at AIUK. A review of performance across our nine high street bookshops and online bookshop was recently carried out to ensure this activity remains effective and that each of our shops delivers a profit.

“Some have not and we are currently running a consultation process with employees whose roles may be affected.”