The manager of a Chesham bookshop has thanked its volunteers for ‘rolling up their sleeves’ after they were impacted by flooding.

The Chapter Two Book store along the town’s High Street was unable to open in the morning of Monday, September 23 at 9am as normal, after heavy rain hit the South East of the country.

Several restaurants, schools and shops were unable to open due to excess water entering their premises, but thankfully, this wasn’t the case for this charity bookshop.

Upon discovering that around two inches of water had ventured into the store, volunteers connected to Chapter Two assembled and managed to remove as much flood water as they could.

By lunchtime that day [September 23], they had reopened as normal.

When asked if she was ‘frustrated’ by the water entering the vicinity, manager Sue Farnfield told the Free Press: “Frustrated isn’t the word I use.

“I wasn’t frustrated, angry, disappointed or anything like that, we just had to try and get the water out.

“We made everyone aware [members of staff and volunteers] what had happened, and when they came over, we managed to get the shop open in a few hours.

“Everyone rolled up their sleeves and helped.

“Some customers also wanted to help but at that point, we had run out of mops.

“In truth, it was heroic of everyone to help out.”

The bookshop has been in the town since 2019 and despite many storms hitting Chesham in that time, this was the first flood to have impacted the business.

Some books were sadly destroyed beyond repair, but it has been confirmed that customers have since donated new books to the charity.

Plans are also being discussed to try and thwart any floods from impacting the shop in the future.

This includes potentially investing in humidifiers and repairing the drainage system.

Money raised from sales goes towards the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.

The hospice caters to a wide range of people and they provide care and support for those with life-limiting conditions.

Sue continued: “Our staff members and volunteers were brilliant.

“They didn’t shy away from trying to get the water out and by lunchtime, we were open.

“It took some doing and seeing customers wanting to help was also brilliant.

“We have got a good team here.”

The shop is well-respected by the local community, as it boasts a perfect 5/5 score from 21 Google Reviews, with many people praising the array of books that are up for sale, as well as the friendly customer service.