VOLUNTEERS who bring the news to people who are visually impaired are celebrating after settling into their new home.

The South West Dorset talking newspaper has moved into the Moose Lodge in Chickerell Road in Weymouth.

The organisation, which is run by around 80 volunteers, held an open day to welcome people to the new premises.

Eleanor Smith, one of the volunteers, said the group is ‘very comfortable’ in their new offices.

She added: “We are all settling in very well. A lot of our volunteers are based in Weymouth so it’s more convenient for them.

“The open day went really well and we had a lot of interest from people.”

The volunteers are a team of editors, technicians and presenters who meet weekly to produce a round-up of local news and features.

It is recorded onto memory sticks which are then posted to the listeners free of charge.

Eleanor said: “We go through all the different news items, and find a variety of things to talk about. Usually we rewrite the articles as the way you speak is different to the way you write, so if we read things out word for word they would sound a little strange.

“We have a different team working on it every week so there is a variety, and then we have the feature articles, which are usually chosen by the people who read them out. They usually pick something that interests them.”

Eleanor explained that the talking newspaper differs from radio.

“It’s more detailed, we have the time to go into depth on the stories, and the features. We don’t just focus on the big headline stories, but the little quirky things that make people smile.

“We have different readers each week, so we feature different people, some of whom have different regional accents, so that keeps it interesting.”

She added: “Being visually impaired can be very isolating. A lot of the people who listen to us aren’t completely blind but it’s a way of connecting to the outside world.”

Anyone who would like to volunteer as a recording technician is asked to get in touch with Ann Sawtell on 01305 782602. Full training will be given and it would be on a rota basis of a few hours per week.

Signing up to receive the talking newspaper each week is free of charge, and equipment to play the memory stick on is also provided for free.

For more information, visit www.swdtn.co.uk or call 01305 783628.

CONTACT ME:

t: 01305 830978

e: rachel.stretton

@dorsetecho.co.uk

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