2009 Gone Digital
The News, Monday, July 27, 2009
VEWS ON THE NEWS - with deputy editor Mark Acheson
Taking The News to those unable to see
The volunteers at Portsmouth Area Talking News do a wonderful job in helping blind and partially sighted people enjoy stories and feature from The News and it was great to join them at a recording session last week.
The organisation, based in Stubbington Avenue, went completely digital last November and now sends out memory sticks which users simply plug into a speaker provided by the charity.
All this comes free of charge, which means of course that the group is always in need of donations to help its good work - particularly after the large outlay to pay for the new equipment.
June Munday of Talking News told me: ‘Set-up costs included purchasing two new computers, 400 speakers, and several thousand memory sticks.
‘We all gave the project a huge amount of our time but unfortunately, although we approached various organisations, nobody was willing to give us any funding and so we have made a big hole in our reserves by having to fund the entire project ourselves.’
It's a great cause and I hope as you read this you'll dip into your pocket and give whatever you can afford.
But it’s not just money that is appreciated – the Talking News team is also keen to find volunteers who would be willing to give a couple of hours of their time of a morning once or twice a week to help with administration. '
This entails scanning barcodes when the memory stick wallets come back in the post, printing labels, copying the recordings from the computer on to the memory sticks and stuffing wallets.
There will also shortly be a vacancy for a secretary to handle letters and to type up the minutes of the group’s four committee meetings a year as well as various other office jobs.
June said: ‘Someone who has experience of office routines would be ideal and a basic understanding of computers and accounts, and/ or keenness to learn, would be a bonus.
‘There must be people who are retired who find themselves with time on their hands and are wanting to keep their brains active who feel they would like to be a “cog in the wheel” of a very worthwhile service to people not as fortunate as themselves.’
For more details about making a donation or volunteering to help, or about receiving memory sticks from the group, call June Munday or Rosemary Stevens on 023 9269 0851.