AN 80-year-old man on an extraordinary mission to bring the joy of reading to poor children in Africa has hit a new milestone.

For 25 years, Darlington Rotarian Peter Phillips has been fundraising and collecting thousands of books to ship to Kenya. His efforts have also led to classrooms and libraries being built, as well as desks being made by a local carpenter for the village school in Msembweni.

The latest chapter is that Peter, who works with the charity Just Be A Child, has now hit the magnificent milestone of delivering 20,000 books over the past 12 months.

Last week, along with 28 other volunteers, he packed up the latest consignment into a 40-feet container. With the invaluable support of local company, Davies Transport, and Darlington Rotary, it is now on the way to Kenya, where he's known by the children as Mister Peter.

The Northern Echo:

The container includes: 48,568 books, 738 toys and games, 73,785 pens, pencils and notepads, 1,078 folders, three tables, 70 chairs, four cabinets, 49 microscopes, 265 tools, and – the latest addition – 198 schoolbags.

A total of 65 schools, plus libraries, churches, orphanages, remand homes and hospitals will benefit from the latest delivery.

Peter, well-known for running The Morritt Arms, at Greta Bridge, near Barnard Castle, between 1994 and 2016, is “overwhelmed” by the backing he’s received, and has no plans to end the story any time soon.

Indeed, it's fair to say that he's delivering on the promise he made in The Northern Echo back in February, that there are plenty more chapters to come.

“I’ve had so much support, so I want to say a huge thank you from all the kids in Kenya, whose lives will be enriched by these books, and the rest of the donations people have made,” he says.

A quarter of a century of kindness – someone should really write a book about Mister Peter.