Local Bookshop celebrates 20 years of Harry Potter to raise money for a good cause.

The Oxfam Bookshop in Kingsbridge celebrated 20 years since the publication of Harry Potter with a party for young witches and wizards, held on Saturday, July 1.

Staff donned hats, cloaks and themed T-shirts, and served food and drink featured in the books, including Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs, Gingerbread Newts, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Treacle Tart and of course, the popular wizarding drink, Butterbeer.

After entering the shop through a Platform 9 ¾ style ‘brick wall’, children were invited to levitate a feather using the correct incantation and swish and flick of the wand, to be sorted into a Hogwarts House, receive a personalised Hogwarts acceptance letter, hunt for five Golden Snitches, play Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit, and enter a quiz.

Three lucky winners were drawn for the quiz: 1st prize was won by Evie Dodman; Harry and Olivia Stevens won 2nd prize; and 3rd prize went to Ella Hassall.

The Wizard Tombola was packed with great prizes, including several books signed by Cliff Wright, illustrator of two of the original book covers. Mr Wright, friend of volunteer Glynis Jones, sent them with his best wishes for the tombola, and it was one of the most popular activities.

Oxfam Bookshop would like to thank Jane at the Harbour Bookshop for her support and generosity in donating ten cloth bags and three new Harry Potter books for prizes, and to Merlin Cinemas for donating two cinema tickets.

Manager of the Bookshop, Vicky Armstrong said: “We are delighted to say it was a roaring success, people really got into the spirit of things, some children dressed in costume, and we all had a ‘wizard’ day!”

A fantastic £267 was raised on the day, which will all go to Oxfam’s educational projects: to help train teachers, get more girls into school in developing countries, and kit out classrooms.