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Registered Charity No. 803083
Editor: Hugh Reid
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About
Elmbridge & Runnymede Talking Newspaper
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Photo of Christopher
Gilroy, Chairman, who is
blind |
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The
Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper Association (EaRTN) is a free service providing recorded digests of local newspapers as well as other topics of interest on audio cassette for visually impaired people or those who are unable to read for themselves.
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EaRTN
produces a Weekly News
digest taken from the
various editions of
"Surrey Herald" and
"News and Mail" groups
of newspapers in
Elmbridge and Runnymede;
a Monthly Magazine which
contains items of
general interest rather
than local news. |
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Currently
over 150 people receive EaRTN. The annual circulation of the 90-minute audiocassettes is more than 15,000. |
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History |
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The picture above was
taken on the occasion of the
presentation to EARTN by the Mayors of
our two boroughs of a certificate in
recognition of our 1,500th issue, and
shows from the left Councillor Carol
Jones, Mayor of Runnymede, EARTN members
John Dickson, Mary Cobham, Anne Prevost,
Editor Hugh Read, Sid Stone, Chairman
Heinz Vogel and Councillor Martin
Schofield Mayor of Elmbridge. |
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When the Talking Newspaper Association
of the UK was formed in 1974, the Rotary
Club of Weybridge and Byfleet decided to
start a talking newspaper for blind and
partially sighted people in the area.
Hospital Radio Wey offered to join the
project by providing recordings of their
Friday evening News Digest, so resolving
the problem of the news side production
of the proposed 90-minute cassette. Side
two was to be a magazine. |
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The Thames Valley Talking Newspaper (TVTN),
as it then was, first reached 35
listeners in the Weybridge and Byfleet
area on 21st December 1975. The early
cassettes were edited and copied on
Sunday mornings on a single machine in
the home of Pat Cole, of Radio Wey, for
more than two years. |
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In June 1976 Walton Rotary joined the
project, bringing 40 more listeners.
TVTN grew in strength, with Esher Rotary
joining in May 1977 and Chertsey Rotary
following in 1987. As word spread so
TVTN increased its weekly circulation,
and by the end of 1990 reached more than
200 blind and visually impaired people
in the boroughs of Elmbridge and
Runnymede. |
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In 1995 it was decided to take over Side
One and speed up the weekly cycle, so
that the news could be recorded on
Thursdays, enabling listeners to receive
their weekly cassette on Saturday rather
than the Tuesday the following week, as
was inevitable under the then current
arrangement. An appeal therefore went
out for volunteers, to take on the much
bigger task of editing, reading and
recording the weekly news from the local
newspapers. With the help of a feature
article in the Surrey Herald, some 50
people quickly answered the call and
TVTN's own first news (on side two)
reached its listeners by April1997,
though still alongside Radio Wey on Side
One. The re-launch was completed by
November, when TVTN finally took
responsibility for Side One and the new,
Saturday morning, weekly all-news
cassette started - under the new name of
Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking
Newspaper (EARTN). The magazine section
became a separate monthly magazine, and
was the sole responsibility of Heinz
Vogel. |
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EARTN's successful rebirth was
recognised later that year when the
Surrey Voluntary Association for the
Blind voted it 'Surrey Talking Newspaper
of the Year' and the Runnymede
Disability Liaison Group gave it their
award for 'Services to the Disabled'.
Furthermore, with the monthly magazine
firmly established, this received the
2003 Runnymede Access Liaison Group’s
Award for its Achievement and
Contribution made in enhancing the lives
of disabled people in the Borough of
Runnymede. |
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Finally, Egham, the last remaining
Rotary Club in the two boroughs, joined
EARTN in 1998 and the original magazine
side was reinstated in the form of the
EARTN Monthly Features Supplement, now
better known as our Monthly Magazine. As
a result EARTN is now producing
cassettes at the rate of about 15,000
copies a year, reaching over 150 blind
and visually impaired people in
Elmbridge and Runnymede. These cassettes
consist of the weekly news, which
reached issue number 1,500 at the end of
2004, and the Monthly Magazine.
Furthermore, the service is, and always
has been, completely free of charge, the
participating Rotary Clubs providing the
bulk of the funding. Some 50 volunteers
produce the labour for this weekly
operation. |
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In December 2004 the Talking Newspaper
Association of the U.K awarded a
certificate to EARTN in recognition of
its 1500th edition. |
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In 2005 the 30th anniversary of its
launch was marked with tributes from
Michael Aspel, Bernard Cribbins, Nerys
Hughes and the Mayors of Elmbridge and
Runnymede. |
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In October 2006 EARTN received £100 from
the Glaxo Smith Kline Local Health
Awards Scheme. Receiving this award was
the retiring Chairman and Editor, Heinz
Vogel, who was succeeded as Editor by
Hugh Read, winner of one of the
Elmbridge Community Awards for 2006 “In
recognition of the voluntary support he
has provided to the community”. |
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Faced with the failure of one of the
machines used for cassette copying and
the knowledge that the others would all
need major repair, in February 2008
EARTN launched an appeal for £13,000 to
replace the six copiers. The target was
reached in April thanks to generous
support from Elmbridge and Runnymede
councils, local charities and the public
and the new machines were installed in
May. |
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Following the closure of the Weybridge
and Byfleet Rotary in the course of
2008, EARTN lost 20% of its funding from
the Rotary Clubs. |
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As in all such undertakings, EARTN is
entirely dependent on the services of
willing, unpaid, volunteers, who give
whatever time they can each month – not
less than three hours. Anyone who wishes
to volunteer to work with the team
should ring our Helpline: 01784 435622.
This is also the number to ring if you
know of anyone who would like to receive
the Talking Newspaper. |
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Weekly Cycle of Activities |
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Monday: The
Movements Register Team records the
address cards from returned pouches in
the register and cleans the cassettes
ready for re-use. The following week’s
despatch cards and pouches are then
prepared and individual record sheets
updated as appropriate. |
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Tuesday:
The Scriptwriter prepares the script in
readiness for the next issue. When
completed, two photocopies are made for
the recording team, the original being
used as the Recording Supervisor’s copy.
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Wednesday:
The studio is used for recording,
duplicating and other associated
activities connected with the production
of the Monthly Magazine. |
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Thursday Morning
(10.00am): Editorial Team of two,
who choose items from local editions of
the Surrey Herald and News and Mail.
Cuttings are combined with the scripts
that have already been prepared for the
Presenters. |
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Thursday
Afternoon: The Recording
Supervisor and the two Presenters (one
male and one female) produce the master
recording. After the session, the
Recording Supervisor produces a back-up
'Copy Master', which will be ready for
the copying team should the master fail
or be otherwise damaged. |
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Friday Morning
(9.30am): The Copying Teams
consisting of three volunteers produce
the required number of News and Woman's
Weekly cassettes. These are inserted
into the addressed pouches prepared by
the Movements Register Team on Monday
and put in mailbags, for collection by
Weybridge Post Office for delivery to
listeners by first post on Saturday. |
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Copies of the Woman's Weekly cassette
are also produced on Friday and
distributed to those listeners who have
requested it. |
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In addition to the above weekly cycle of
work a Monthly Magazine is also
produced, the production of which is
currently organised by the Joint Editors |
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The resulting output of the Elmbridge
and Runnymede Talking Newspaper
Association amounts to a grand total of
approximately 15,000 cassettes a year. |
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Monthly Talking Magazine |
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The Elmbridge and
Runnymede Talking News (EaRTN) monthly
Talking Magazine, unlike the weekly news
digest that requires a disciplined
weekly structure to ensure its regular
production, can be produced in a rather
more relaxed manner, in line with its
publication date of the first week-end
in the month, although it still requires
a disciplined and organised approach to
its preparation. Thus the editorial
team, lead by the joint Editors, plan
the contents well in advance, leaving
space for the more topical items and aim
to have the recording made at least 10
days before publication. This leave time
for reflection and ‘fine tuning’ at the
last moment. |
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The monthly Talking Magazine contains a
mixture of original articles, interviews
with interesting / eminent people in the
area and readings of stories of general
interest . Recent interviews recorded
include a series of reminiscences by one
of our oldest listeners, Ernie Russon,
about his experiences in service during
the 1920s and ‘30s; Michael Aspell,
currently of the BBC Antiques Roadshow
fame; Sir Nicholas Winton, who was
instrumental is saving some 700 children
from the holocaust in 1939; various
actors and actresses from TV and the
silver screen, and even memoirs of some
of our own volunteers. |
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Thus, there is always room for
contributions from individual volunteers
who either have a story of their own to
tell or who are prepared to conduct
interviews with interesting people. |
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EaRTN
News |
Some recent events
involving the Elmbridge & Runnymede
Talking Newspaper include:
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Donation From EATRN Listener Mrs Terry
Recently the Elmbridge and
Runnymede Talking Newspaper received a
donation from one of their listeners,
Mrs. Barbara Terry of Walton. |
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Mrs. Terry, who was
diagnosed with macular degeneration at
the age of 55, was a founding member of
the Walton Macular Degeneration Group.
10 years ago, following a talk to the
Group by Mr. Bert Jones of the Elmbridge
and Runnymede Talking Newspaper (EARTN),
she
became a listener. |
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Mrs. Terry said: “I
really look forward to receiving the
tapes of the Talking Newspaper every
Saturday. I listen to my tape on Sunday
morning and am particularly interested
in the local news and details of the
forthcoming local events It helps me to
feel a part of the community and I find
I am telling my husband the local news!
We often go to interesting events in the
community as a result of hearing about
them on thanks to the Talking
Newspaper.”
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Mrs. Terry decided to
ask friends to give her their small
change, which she put in a large sweet
jar. Gradually, people with whom she
worked for local charities became aware
of her scheme.
Our photograph shows her with her
original sweet jar and the pottery clown
which also contains coins. “I would come
home and find a plastic bag of small
change on the doorstep” she said. |
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As a result, she has
been able to raise funds for her
favourite charities and send donations
not only to the Talking Newspaper but
also Calibre (Talking Books). “I am
grateful to both the Talking Newspaper
and Talking Books” she said “both give
me an invaluable service, making my life
so much richer.” |
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When Mrs. Terry met her
husband, Brian, she had a pilot’s
licence and knew many of the
international heroes of aviation in the
early days of flying. Her husband
laughingly told us that, although she
had a pilot’s licence, she had never
learnt to drive a car and he had many
scary moments teaching her to come down
to earth! |
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New EARTN Secretary
Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking
Newspaper is pleased to announce the
appointment of Mrs. Jackie Scobling as
Secretary, following the retirement of
Mr. Michael Holmberg at the end of 2009. |
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Chairman Chris Gilroy paid tribute to
Mr. Holmberg: “We shall miss Mike, who
has served as Secretary to the Talking
Newspaper for the past four years. He
has made a major contribution, not only
as a very efficient member of the
Executive Committee, but also as an
active participant in the raising of the
£13,000 needed for the replacement of
the obsolescent copying machines in
2009. This was a highly successful
appeal and Mike worked extremely hard,
particularly in dealing with the
information required by Surrey County
Council and Elmbridge and Runnymede
Councils. I am delighted that he will
still be involved as a volunteer in the
production of both the Talking Newspaper
and our Monthly Magazine.” |
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He added “Mrs. Scobling has considerable
secretarial and administrative
experience and I look forward to working
with her in the future. She is already a
volunteer with the Talking Newspaper and
has proved to be a valuable member of
the team”. |
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Special Award
On Wednesday, 29th April 09, the Worshipful
Mayor of Elmbridge, Cllr. Nigel Cooper,
visited the studio of Elmbridge and
Runnymede Talking Newspaper to record an
interview with volunteers Anne Prevost
and Sid Stone, during which he reviewed
his year of office and spoke movingly
about the highlights. He had met four
members of the Royal family (the Earl
and Countess of Essex, the Duke of Kent
and the Duchess of Gloucester) and the
members of the British Olympic rowing
team. He felt he would remember for many
years meeting an old lady who was
celebrating her hundredth birthday. He
helped her to cut her birthday cake, but
was particularly touched by the way she
continued to hold his hand throughout. |
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The Mayor then presented
a special award to the Talking Newspaper
– a limited edition plaque - which will
be displayed in the studio at Weybridge
Hospital. |
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Annual General Meeting
Chairman of the Elmbridge and Runnymede
Talking Newspaper, Chris Gilroy welcomed
members to the Annual General Meeting on
18th March. Thanking volunteers for the
consistently good service of the Talking
Newspaper, he paid tribute to Hugh Read,
who retired as Editor at the end of 2008
and who had steered the Talking
Newspaper through the acquisition of the
new copying machines. He presented Hugh
with a book token in recognition of his
service, first as Secretary and then
Editor, over seven years. |
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Tina Turner, Editor,
echoed the tribute to Hugh Read, her
predecessor, and pointed out that he was
still active as a volunteer in the
production of both the weekly newspaper
and the monthly magazine. Reporting on a
busy year, she considered that the drop
in circulation was due in part to the
fact that the younger generation of
visually impaired people obtained their
information from other sources: going
digital would have to be considered, but
tapes would continue as long as there
was a demand. The number of volunteers
was also down slightly. At the end of
2008 Heinz Vogel, who had joined the
Talking Newspaper in 1982, and who had
continued as a volunteer after standing
down as Editor and Chairman, left. Bob
Evans, another long standing volunteer,
resigned for health reasons, as well as
two more recent recruits, Karen Streeter
and Dee Watson. She felt that, after the
early teething problems, the new copiers
had certainly improved the quality of
the recordings and thanks to Mr. Henry
Cook of Richard Cook Ltd. it had also
been possible to update the computer and
other equipment in the studio. |
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In addition to the
representatives of the four Rotary
Clubs, the following were elected to the
Executive Committee for the coming year:
Chris Gilroy (Chairman), Mike Holmberg
(Secretary), Jeremy Grace (Treasurer),
Margaret Boulter, Anne Prevost and Tina
Turner. |
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The Deputy Mayor of
Elmbridge, Cllr. James Vickers,
presented awards to Mary Cobham, Ann
Davis, Sandy Ewing (Deputy Chairman),
Chris Gilroy (Chairman) and Jeremy Grace
(Treasurer) who have served on the
Talking Newspaper for over 10 years,
with a special award to Peter Ewing for
over 25 years’ service (photo on right). |
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“Thank you” to
Donors
Following the appeal to raise £13,000
for new copying equipment in January
2008, EARTN was able to purchase new
Otari copiers in April. These were
installed in May and representatives of
the major donors were invited to a
reception to celebrate this and view the
new equipment at the Talking Newspaper
studio. In the photograph, Hugh Read,
Editor in chief, demonstrates the
copiers to (l. to r.) Sylvia Carter (SCC
Local Committee, Runnymede), Henry Cook
(Richard Cook Ltd., Chertsey) and
Rosemary Dane (Mayor of Elmbridge
2007/8) |
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Want To Join Us ?
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EaRTN welcomes
volunteers to help with
the production of the
tapes.
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Due to the retirement of
some long serving
volunteers, the EARTN
urgently needs help in
order to produce the
cassettes of local news
for visually impaired
people in the two
boroughs. |
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The team of volunteers
prepares a weekly digest
of news from the local
newspapers as well as a
monthly magazine edition
of interviews with local
celebrities and items of
interest to visually
impaired people. The
service is free and the
tapes are collected from
the studio on Fridays
for delivery by the Post
Office at the weekend. |
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Duties usually involve
two to three hours every
four to six weeks. |
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There is something going
on every morning of the
week, so if you can
spare a weekday morning
to join the team, please
ring our helpline on
01784 435 622. |
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Photos |
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Councillor James Vickers (Deputy Mayor
of Elmbridge) in our studio being shown
the new copying machines by Pat Brown &
Sid Stone |
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Volunteers working on the production of the Elmbridge & Runnymede Talking Newspaper
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| A visit
to Elmbridge & Runnymede Talking Newspaper by
Michael Aspel |
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Contact Details |
How to Contact EaRTN
If you would like more information about The Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper Association (EaRTN), either as a listener or a volunteer, please contact us directly by any of the following methods and we will respond to you as soon as we can.
By e-mail
Our e-mail address is eartn at waitrose dot com. Following this is a link for your e-mail client
eartn@waitrose.com
By Post
Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper
Weybridge Hospital and Primary Care Centre
22 Church Street
Weybridge Surrey
KT13 8DY
By Telephone
Our Helpline number is: 01784 435 622
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