Reading's Talking Newspaper for the Blind is a registered charity which provides extracts from the Reading Evening Post and Reading Chronicle on cassette tape to visually impaired people in Reading and surrounding areas.
In 1974 a group of local people decided to found a Talking Newspaper, to be affiliated to TNAUK - the Talking Newspaper Association of the United Kingdom. They raised the money to buy the equipment necessary to supply a Newspaper to 35 blind people in the Reading area. They were registered by the Charity Commissioners, and issued their first newspaper in March 1976.
For the first few months the tapes were recorded and copied in Mike & Chris McMillan's living room before being posted to the listeners using the GPO's free Articles for the Blind service. After 3 moves we ended up at the Reading Adult and Community College where we have been for several years now
We produce a tape each week, except for between Christmas and the New Year, when there are difficulties over posting. Side One of the tape is based on material from Reading's local newspapers; and Side Two is a mix of articles from these papers plus other from magazines for which copyright permission has been obtained. These tapes are sent out on 90-minute compact cassette tapes to around 200 listeners.
There are a number of news teams comprising an editor and three additional readers. These are complemented by four producers-recording engineers, and several teams of four which handle the duplication and distribution of cassettes. The branch is managed by a committee of ten which includes two blind Listeners' Representatives. All are unpaid volunteers.
The Association is affiliated to the Talking Newspaper Association of the United Kingdom (TNAUK).
If you wish to help in any way - by making a donation, by volunteering as a reader, or by helping in the technical or administrative areas - please contact us.
If you, or a friend or relative, are able to benefit from our service please contact us.
The service is entirely free of charge to listeners, although in order to make use of the free postal service they must be registered blind or partially sighted. We will endeavour to get cassettes to other people unable to read the printed paper through disability. Listeners should be able to play standard compact cassette audio tapes, but the branch can advise on or assist with equipment in cases of need.
The tapes are sent out in PVC wallets which are sealed with Velcro. After listening to the tape the listener replaces the cassette in the wallet with the label which they remove from a pocket on the front. This is done because in the nineties, when the Post Office first introduced an automatic sorting system, pockets tended to be ripped off. The label is laminated for durability.