'A sanctuary of hope' The Lesbos library for refugees run by a Spurs fan in a shed

Here do you see yourself in your 70s? Perhaps on a Greek island, a long way from home with a good book or two. That's where Ruth Miller is right now, though there's a twist to the usual tale.

- Diane Taylor

Nine years ago, the Londoner decided to volunteer for a month at a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Today she spends most of her time as the librarian of Mavrovouni camp.

Miller, 71, is a former civil servant who worked to simplify communication in government written materials. Now she has transferred those literacy skills.

"It's not quite what I had in mind entering my eighth decade, but it's a new challenge and I'm loving it," she says, "though some days it's exhausting".

Miller works for the NGO Eurorelief and spearheaded the conversion of a dilapidated bike repair shed into an oasis of books in 15 different languages.

The library now contains 2,500 books, and Miller is always trying to source more in Farsi, Arabic and Turkish. Many adults in the camp have spent long periods living in Turkey before crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece.