Bury St Edmunds based news service for the blind and sight-impaired records its 2,000th edition

A charity which provides local news coverage to people who are blind and sight-impaired is set to record its 2,000th edition this week.

St Edmundsbury Newstalk, founded in May 1980, has provided the service for 44 years thanks to a team of volunteers.

The service is free of charge for anyone who is sight impaired or has severely sight-impaired vision, with spectacles of N12 or less, certified by an ophthalmic optician.

Newstalk editors sift through paper editions of local newspapers, including the Bury Free Press, Newmarket Journal and Haverhill Echo, and then prepare a series of main and shorter news stories, features and letters.

Based at a small studio in the Severn Road Business Centre, Bury St Edmunds, two readers and a producer record an hour-long weekly podcast as a digital audio MP3 file.

Copies are sent on USB memory sticks to each registered listener, who can also receive a USB player on loan.

Each week the USB is returned, and all postage is provided by Royal Mail free of charge through its Articles for the Blind postal service.

Gill Gane, chair of St Edmundsbury Newstalk, said: "I think Newstalk provides an invaluable service by continuing to keep our listeners informed about their local community.

“As with all our volunteers I greatly enjoy being involved and have learnt a lot about visual impairment.

St Edmundsbury Newstalk is a UK registered charity run entirely by volunteers.

It receives no direct financial support and relies on donations to maintain the service.

lan Gordon-Stables, a solicitor, and Brian Jenkin, a building society manager, have been involved from the start.

The pair approached businesses for donations to help fund the project and recordings were first made on cassette tapes at Alan's house.

Bury St Edmunds resident Jacqueline Newman, 88, has been a listener for 12 years.

She said: “I have dry macular deterioration, which has left me with very limited sight and no peripheral vision at all.

“I have been told my eyesight will continue to get worse, but it will not ‘go dark’,” she said.

"I love receiving the podcasts, they do not come round quickly enough.

“I particularly like the letters, as they are interesting and relevant, individual and unique. I enjoy it when people put each other right.”

Martin Chandler, 90, lives with his wife Margaret in Bury, and has been a listener since 2005.

He said: “I started Dial-a-Ride in Bury, and was the county secretary of SSAFA, as well as working with a number of local voluntary organisations.

“As well as listening to the St Edmundsbury Newstalk podcast – and, like Jacqueline, the letters are Martin’s favourite – he listens to other magazines including one produced in Sudbury.

Sue Harrington-Spier, a reader for Newstalk since 1980, said: “I trained as an actress and when I saw readers were needed, I thought my voice would be suitable.

“I remember reading and being recorded on to tapes in the tent at the old hospital. It was terribly hot in summer, and all a bit Heath Robinson.

“I volunteered because I wanted to ‘give back’ and I’ve carried on ever since.

“During the pandemic, 14 of the readers were set up to keep in contact with all the listeners. I stayed in touch with my listeners on the phone, making sure everyone was all right – and they would call me to make sure I was, which was kind.”

Gill Gane, added: “If you know of anyone who might like to receive our podcasts, please do contact us.”

To register as a listener, email listen@stedmundsburynewstalk.org.uk.

If you are interested in volunteering for any role, email volunteer@stedmundsburynewstalk.org.uk