Talking Newspaper For Blind Celebrates 40 Years

A talking newspaper is celebrating 40 years of service to blind and partially-sighted people.

Wirral Talking Newspaper is run by volunteers and provides free weekly recordings of local news and magazine features to people on the Wirral.

The service began in 1984, using police custody interview tapes that had been wiped and donated by Merseyside Police.

The newspaper had 600 regular listeners at its peak.

Its loyal fan base includes volunteer Harry Jones, who has been listening for 40 years.

He said: “I’m not one who is able to access the news very easily, online or on my phone, so the recordings I get from Wirral Talking Newspaper are my only opportunity to get news locally.

Mr Jones, a volunteer on the registrars team and a member of the service’s management committee, said listeners “like the fact that someone with a familiar voice comes into their homes every fortnight and informs them about the local news”.

Ron Walker, who was himself blind, started Wirral Talking Newspapers with a group of people in Birkenhead in 1984.

The newspaper was originally recorded on cassettes, but the service’s 180 listeners now receive their news, gathered from the Wirral Globe and local magazines, via an MP3 memory stick which is delivered to them directly.

Five teams make up the service including administrators, recording and technical crews, readers and a magazine team.

‘Until the lights go out’

Pat Phew, chair of Wirral Talking Newspapers, joined the service as a volunteer in 2000.

She said: “The cassettes were given to us by the police, cleaned of course so they were blank tapes and we were able to use them for free so no funding was required.”

Ms Phew said that although Wirral Talking Newspapers was given a legacy to help maintain its standards since the pandemic, it has been difficult to secure funding.

She said: “Our listeners are generous and do send us donations but long-term there is no future, as our listeners are of the generation aged 70 plus, and nowadays there is so much on the internet, it is easier to access for visually-impaired people.

“But we will be with our listeners all the way, until the lights go out.”