Recent EaRTN News

Some recent events involving the Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper include:

2011 Annual General Meeting

Chairman of the Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper, Chris Gilroy, opened the Annual General Meeting on 30th March by asking members to observe a minute’s silence in memory of Sid Stone, who had been a volunteer for ten years, and Jeremy Grace, Treasurer for fifteen years, both of whom were greatly missed.

Sid Stone

Jeremy Grace (left)

He welcomed the appointment of Graham Parker as Treasurer and Chris Florence as Editor.

On the subject of equipment, Mike Holmberg assured the meeting that the matter had been given serious consideration during the year.   Although it was likely that tapes would eventually be replaced by memory sticks, the current equipment, which had been purchased as a result of the appeal for funds in 2008, was working well and would continue to be used for some time to come.

Chris Florence thanked the Production Working Group for their sterling efforts over the last few months and for their continued support of him as he started to find his feet in his new role.   He paid tribute to Sid Stone and Jeremy Grace, already mentioned by the Chairman and recalled that the Talking Newspaper had also lost Sid Wastall, a volunteer for six years, and Life President, Bert Jones, who had first joined the Talking Newspaper in 1977.   He also advised the meeting of the continuing fall in listeners, now down to approximately 105, with the Woman’s Weekly barely touching 50.  The Monthly Magazine had ceased production, but it was a priority for him to encourage some of the new enthusiastic volunteers to come forward to help him to restart this magazine, which had been so popular with listeners.  We now had almost 50 volunteers on our list, including sound engineers.   Two of the new sound engineers were also assisting Pat Brown with technical matters.

Reporting on the accounts for the year, Graham Parker explained that they had been drawn up in a different format from that used by the late Treasurer.   He drew attention to the fact that, as there were now only three Rotary Clubs contributing to the funds and donations were down on previous years, income was no longer covering the running costs of approximately £4,000 per year.   After explaining the depreciation of the value of the equipment he agreed that the TN had approx. £14K in its bank account, which could be called upon in these days of ‘credit crunch’.  The Chairman hoped the Talking Newspaper would survive for the next 3/4years and would not then have problems in raising additional funds as, according to the government, the country should be over its present financial difficulties.   Margaret Boulter agreed with the Chairman that she greatly appreciated receiving the tapes and other members had been told of listeners’ appreciation of the service.

In addition to the representatives of the three Rotary Clubs, the following were elected to the Executive Committee for the coming year: Chris Gilroy (Chairman), Jackie Scobling (Secretary), Graham Parker (Treasurer), Chris Florence (Editor) Margaret Boulter (Visually Impaired), Anne Prevost and Jonathan Fisher.

The Chairman announced that a certificate of recognition for ten years’ service would be sent to Susan Robinson, who was unfortunately unable to attend the meeting.

New Appointments

At their meeting in January, the Executive Committee of the Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper noted with regret the illness of Mr Jeremy Grace, who had served as Treasurer for many years. As a result, he would no longer be able to continue in the post and Mr Graham Parker was co-opted and appointed to succeed him. Mr Parker is a retired accountant, who spent the first part of his working life in business and then taught accounting and business subjects in the Business School of Kingston University for 21 years.

The Committee also welcomed Mr Chris Florence, who has agreed to take on the post of Editor in Chief. Mr Florence recently retired after 26 years as a sports reporter with the BBC World Service. He has been a volunteer with the Talking Newspaper since 1996, regularly reading for the weekly tapes which are sent out to visually impaired people in the two boroughs.

The Talking Newspaper has been run by a team of senior volunteers following the resignation of the former editor at the end of 2009. Chris said:  “After being restricted with my involvement in the Talking News for the last few years, I now have more time to be involved. I feel it is a very worthwhile organisation, helping those with sight problems to keep in touch with their local community.”

Chairman, Chris Gilroy, who is blind, said:  “We are extremely fortunate that existing volunteers have come forward to take up these important posts. We all miss Jeremy Grace, who was our Treasurer for 15 years. He was greatly liked by all who knew him, and we wish him a full recovery. However, I feel sure that in Graham we have a new member of the Committee who will an excellent successor to Jeremy.
We are very grateful to the committee members who have shared the organisation of the Talking Newspaper to ensure its smooth running during the time that we have not had an Editor in Chief – as a blind person myself, I greatly appreciate receiving the weekly tape, which keeps me in touch with the community and events in the area. Chris’s voice is already well known to our listeners and I am sure his experience with the BBC will be invaluable to him in taking over this position. He is a popular member of the team of volunteers and we all look forward to his greater involvement with the Talking Newspaper”.

Elmbridge And Runnymede Talking Newspaper - 35 Successful Years

On 19th December, listeners to the Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper received the Christmas edition of the weekly digest of news, which marked 35 years of production and over 1800 editions.

When the Talking Newspaper Association of the UK was formed in 1974, the Rotary Club of Weybridge and Byfleet decided to start a talking newspaper for blind and partially sighted people in the area. With support from Hospital Radio Wey, who supplied recordings of their Friday evening News Digest, the Thames Valley Talking Newspaper (TVTN), went out to 35 listeners in the Weybridge and Byfleet area on 21st December 1975.

In 1976 Walton Rotary joined the project with 40 more listeners.  Esher Rotary joined in 1977 and Chertsey Rotary in 1987. As word spread, so TVTN increased its weekly circulation, and by the end of 1990 reached more than 200 blind and visually impaired people in the boroughs of Elmbridge and Runnymede.  Egham, the last remaining Rotary Club in the two boroughs, joined in 1998.

In 1995, following a feature article in local papers, some 50 people volunteered to join the Talking Newspaper, and it was possible to take over the production as we know it now. In April 1997 TVTN's own first news (on side two) reached its listeners , still alongside Radio Wey on side one.  The re-launch was completed by November, and the new, Saturday morning, weekly all-news cassette started - under the name of Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper (EARTN). The magazine section became a separate monthly magazine, and was the sole responsibility of Heinz Vogel.

Later that year the Surrey Voluntary Association for the Blind voted it 'Surrey Talking Newspaper of the Year' and the Runnymede Disability Liaison Group gave it their award for 'Services to the Disabled'.

In December 2004 the Talking Newspaper Association of the U.K. awarded a certificate to EARTN in recognition of its 1500th edition. In 2005, the 30th anniversary of its launch was marked with tributes from Michael Aspel, Bernard Cribbins, Nerys Hughes and the Mayors of Elmbridge and Runnymede.

In 2008, following the failure of one of the copying machines and the likelihood of similar failure with the other machines, an appeal was launched for £13,000 to replace them. Thanks to the generosity of the two borough councils, local trusts and the public, EARTN were able to purchase new Otari copiers in May of that year, ensuring  improved quality of the recordings.

When this Talking Newspaper was founded, the concept was very new and there were only 60 Talking Newspapers  in the UK – there are now over 500. EARTN looks forward to providing tapes for its listeners for many more years. If you or someone you know has difficulty reading and would like to receive the Talking Newspaper, please ring the Helpline on 01784 435622 with your request.