The South Lakes Talking Newspaper Association aims to provide visually impaired people with audio recordings of local news from the Westmorland Gazette.
We can send the Talking Newspaper Recording to anyone registered with a local authority as blind or partially sighted, or to anyone certified by an optician or doctor as being unable to read N12 print.
We record each weekly edition of the Talking Newspaper onto USB Memory Sticks, then, using the Royal Mail’s ‘Articles for the Blind’ Freepost Service, these recordings are sent out to our listeners with stories and information from South Cumbria which are not available through national or regional TV or radio. Each edition of the Talking Newspaper lasts approximately 60 minutes, composed of local news and items taken from the Westmorland Gazette of that week.
The Memory Stick can be played on any computer, tablet, radio or hi-fi which has a USB port. If you do not have a device on which to play the recording, we can lend you a small machine for this. It is easy to use, and one of our volunteers will arrange to take it to the home of a new listener to explain how it works and to answer any questions.
The Talking Newspaper is free to any visually impaired person, including the loan of the Player. There is no postage charge involved in returning the memory sticks to us.
In addition, each quarter (i.e. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Christmas), we produce a much longer recording which is full of interesting pieces taken from a number of sources with a local emphasis.
Our listeners are the reason we are here. We try at all times to provide recordings which are varied and interesting, and which our listeners will enjoy hearing.
Our area of operation is similar to that of the Westmorland Gazette. Broadly, we serve the South Lakes area from Ambleside in the north to Grange-over-Sands in the south, and from Coniston and Ulverston in the west to Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale in the east.
The South Lakes Talking Newspaper Association is funded entirely by donations, and staffed by volunteers. If you would like to donate in order to support our charity, it would be very much appreciated. Please use the details on the Contact Us page to get in touch.
Data Protection
Details of listeners are kept on a password-protected computer, and also in a secure cupboard. The details will be used only for SLTNA administrative purposes. For more detail, please see our privacy policy.