A “talking newspaper” which has been entertaining the blind for 35 years is seeking volunteers to help it step into the digital age.
Helpers with the Boston and South Holland Talking Newspaper for the blind have been recording extracts from the Spalding Guardian and sister papers The Lincolnshire Free Press and Boston Standard since 1980.
Now they want to switch from recording on double-sided cassette tapes to memory sticks (USBs), following in the footsteps of similar newspapers up and down the country.
A spokesman said: “We will need technical help from volunteers with radio broadcasting experience and preferably someone familiar with our current retro systems, as there may be a short overlap between one system and another.”
Recording takes place in an upstairs studio in George Street, Boston, at the offices of South Lincolnshire Blind Society. Reading, recording and copying normally takes two hours. Boston news goes on one side of the tape and Spalding news on the other.
Currently some 130 tapes go out to blind listeners scattered across South Holland and Boston Borough – although a few go further afield to Bourne, Lincoln and Birmingham.
The proposed switch to digital has been made possible by six months of fundraising with support from the David Medlock Trust, Evan Cornish Foundation, the Waynflete Trust, Santander Foundation and a donation from local company Grantec.
The talking newspaper is also grateful to Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service for advice given on the digital project.
• The talking newspaper is seeking to recruit additional editors, who can work anywhere, as well as people who have technical know-how. To volunteer please call 01205 359037 or email www.bashtn.org.uk