A GRANDFATHER hopes to send his collection of 3,000 books to China to educate people denied access by Communist authorities.

Martin Conway, 78, has accumulated the vast selection because of his long-standing involvement in the World Council of Churches.

The Cowley Road resident said this was because the state restricted access to books Communists seized power in 1949.

Under Mao Zedong’s strict Communist regime, links with the Western world were heavily restricted to the early 1980s.

Links to churches were hit and Dr Conway hopes his collection of books about world faiths will help fill this gap. The council began work in 1948 and Dr Conway was involved from 1970 to 1983.

It brings together churches, denominations and church fellowships in more than 110 countries and territories.

It represents more than 500 million Christians and includes 345 member churches.

Dr Conway will send his books to Nanjing Theological Seminary in China after he suffered a stroke three years ago.

He said: “I only had the idea after I had my stroke.

“I realised I was never going to be able to read or write a great deal again.”

He spent eight weeks in China in 1986 in his role as president of the Selly Oak Federation of Colleges in Birmingham.

Dr Conway was president of the colleges – which involved theology and social work – for 11 years before his retirement in 1997.

During his time there, he offered scholarships to 27 Chinese students to study at the Selly Oak colleges.

He is seeking someone to help him record the books in a database as required by Chinese customs.

For more details contact Dr Conway on 01865 723085 or email ruthconway@abelian.net