South Lakes Talking Newspaper Association

Hear your local news

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 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 send out the weekly recordings on memory sticks, serving our listeners with stories and information from South Cumbria which are not available through national and regional TV or radio.

The talking newspaper is free to any visually impaired person, including supply of the speaker player. There is no postage charge involved in returning the memory sticks to us.

Each edition of the Talking Newspaper is about 60 minutes long made up of local news and items taken from the Westmorland Gazette of that week. This will include main news but also small items of what's on, gardening, sport or nostalgia.

Each quarter, usually in line with seasonal change, ie., spring, summer, autumn and Christmas we produce a much longer recording which is full of interesting pieces taken from a number of sources, but again with a local South Lakeland/Cumbrian/Yorkshire Dales emphasis.

The small machine we supply for playing the recordings 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.

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.

Data Protection

Details of listeners are kept on a password protected computer and also in a secure cupboard.

The details will only be used for SLTNA administrative purposes.