Meron Gwiggner

Meron Gwiggner is a sponsor and trustee of The Roger Diamond Foundation. She is also the founder of Hone Books Galore (HBG). 

Meron grew up in Ethiopia. She says that in Ethiopia people’s intelligence is not measured by their socio economic background. Meron is very passionate about the British education system through the journey of her two sons. She wants to inject into the community the culture of reading a book as a hobby. Meron grew up in a home surrounded by books because her late father was a devout reader. Consequently, she has been instilling the love of books into her sons. 

During the second lockdown, Meron promoted the love of reading via WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. But it did not reach the wider community that she wanted to reach. The journey made her determined to create a second-hand-books shop with a twist within the community.

Mrs. Gwiggner proudly says that her sons, aged 12 and 10, are ferocious readers... "They have individually read over ONE THOUSAND books" she says. Reading has helped their focus, memory, empathy, and communication skills. She believes that every child in the UK should be able to read well, regardless of their socio-economic background.

Meron's aim is not just to sell the books, but to also promote reading for pleasure and the appreciation of books, with a great emphasis on introducing children at an early age to the joy of reading books. She says there is evidence that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success. Her sons are evidence of that. One of her sons is a member of High IQ society. 

Meron is a former parent school governor and continues to volunteer for various local charities.  She is concerned about the national statistics that show that the less read pupils from ethnic minorities suffer a lot in their literacy and vocabulary.