Talking newspaper makes the headlines as it goes weekly

People who are blind or partially-sighted can now keep up with the news from the Gazette every week, thanks to Alnwick Lions Club.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Aug 2018, 15:56 BST
Updated 26th Aug 2018, 16:30 BST
Mayor Alan Symmonds and Grant Welch, from Specsavers, with volunteer readers Lorna Ternent, Gillie Stapleton and Ernie Harpur and Lions Mick Keane and Sandra Shepherd recording a recent edition.Mayor Alan Symmonds and Grant Welch, from Specsavers, with volunteer readers Lorna Ternent, Gillie Stapleton and Ernie Harpur and Lions Mick Keane and Sandra Shepherd recording a recent edition.
Mayor Alan Symmonds and Grant Welch, from Specsavers, with volunteer readers Lorna Ternent, Gillie Stapleton and Ernie Harpur and Lions Mick Keane and Sandra Shepherd recording a recent edition.

The club’s talking newspaper has gone digital and is now produced weekly rather than fortnightly.

The Lions produce an audio version of the Gazette each week on a USB stick and issue it to any person who is either blind or visually impaired within the paper’s circulation area.

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The service is entirely free and the Lions can even provide a player so people can listen to the recording.

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A group of volunteer readers choose the articles and record them on Thursday mornings at Weavers Court, Alnwick, by kind permission of Karbon Homes.

They are then posted to the recipient.

Lions secretary Richard Hall said: “Since we have gone digital, we now issue the Gazette on a weekly basis, which allows us to cover more articles and more up-to-date information.”

Specsavers in Alnwick has donated £300 to the Lions to help continue the free service. Most of the club’s funds are raised from its second-hand bookshop in Bondgate Within or at monthly car boot sales in the Homebase car park.

Related topics:PeopleAlnwick