Sutton Talking Newspaper

SPREADING THE NEWS ABOUT OUR NEWS!

Sutton Talking Newspaper (STN) is a charity which was formed in 1975 with a view to providing visually impaired residents in the Borough with an audio-recorded version of some of the news from the local papers. We have produced over 2,000 editions since the formation of the Association. We originally recorded on cassette tape, then moved to CD, and now give listeners the choice of receiving the recordings on memory stick.

STN was founded in 1975 by the Rotary Club of Carshalton, and members of the Rotary Club are among our many volunteers. We record in our “state of the art” recording studio behind the Cryer Theatre.

Every Thursday afternoon and evening, rotas of volunteers meet at our small studio in Carshalton. Four readers take it in turns to read extracts from the Sutton Guardian, which have been prepared by that day’s presenter.

The news section of the recording lasts for 30 minutes, and “side two” (which is also 30 minutes long) is “The Clarion” magazine which contains an assortment of interesting, entertaining or informative items, such as useful information and advice for the visually impaired, as well as items of more general interest including interviews with local people. This is prepared in advance by another presenter.

After the recording is produced each Thursday evening, the CDs and memory sticks are carefully put in individual pouches with reversible labels and taken in sacks to the main post office by local Rotarians.

The majority are delivered to our listeners in the first post on Friday. This gives them the weekend in which to listen to the recording, before posting it back to STN by the following Thursday when the process is repeated.

A recent innovation has been that we are now able to supply on memory sticks, a selection of up to twelve national magazines each week, such as Hello, My Weekly, People’s Friend, Woman’s Own, Woman’s Weekly, Sport Weekly, The Spectator, Saga, The Week, Amateur Gardening, Nature, BBC Good Food, BBC History and BBC Wildlife. These magazines have proved extremely popular with our listeners.

Many people already have a device such as a television, radio, daisy player, tablet, or internet radio which is capable of playing memory sticks. Any listener who does not already own a memory stick player can be given one free of charge by STN, and demonstrated in their own home by one of our volunteers.

Our recordings can also be downloaded each week from our website www.suttontn.org.uk

The organisation is administered and staffed entirely by volunteers, and is funded by generous donations and legacies. There is no charge for the service.

Many of our listeners have been with us for years, but we know there are many more out there who are not aware of what we do, so we are trying to spread the news about our news!

If you live in the London Borough of Sutton, and might like to take our service, please contact the studio by phoning 020 3759 6679, emailing secretary@suttontn.org.uk or publicity@suttontn.org.uk, or writing to us at: Sutton Talking Newspaper, 1 Grove Cottage, Grove Park, High Street, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 3BB. Our application form can also be downloaded using the link on our website.