Local volunteer Tony Baker has stepped in to help at Childs Hill Library in Cricklewood.

The retired civil servant started volunteering when it became a partnership library and was taken over by Kisharon and Barnet Mencap in March last year.

Tony runs the library’s conversation cafe, edits its volunteer newsletter, cleared away the heavy snowfall in the recent bad weather to make the entrance safe for users and even applied for free bulbs to make the garden grow in the spring.

He said: “I want to make the library more visible in the community – that is my personal aim. I have used this library for many years and I did not want it to close.”

Neha Dhakar, Social Enterprise Manager – Partnership Library, said: “We are delighted to have Tony here. All our volunteers bring different skill sets and are better than most paid professionals.”

Would you like to follow in Tony’s footsteps and become a Kisharon volunteer? Email: volunteer@kisharon.org.uk