South Hams Talking Newspapers (SHTN) are looking for volunteers to help provide local news to blind and partially sighted people.

SHTN was founded by Phyllis Anglis around 1990 and has an audience of around 30 people across the district.

The programmes, which are around 45 minutes long, consist of readings from the South Hams Gazette newspapers.

They are produced on Thursday afternoons by a dedicated team, usually consisting of a presenter, two readers and a technician who mixes the sound.

There are around 20 volunteers altogether who share the duties.

Glynis Webber was the presenter at the time I visited and explained how it works: “The listeners receive the programme on a USB memory stick and we provide the means by which they listen to it when they join.

“These are then sent out in the post using the Freepost ‘Articles for the Blind’ concession provided by the Royal Mail.”

Technician John Litchfield explained why he decided to volunteer:

“It's a nice thing to get involved in, to help people that are not as fortunate as yourself.

“Just recently I've had an operation on my eye and I know how apprehensive I was about getting involved because it's such an important sensory benefit, to be able to see but luckily I'm able to contribute here so that's all right.

Glynis said volunteering was very rewarding: “It's an hour a month that I can give to people in the community who are less fortunate than me and can't read.

“I think if I couldn't read, I would be quite bereft and we like to give them the local news.”

SHTN are always on the lookout for new volunteers both on the presentation and assistance sides.

If you are interested you can contact Lead Trustee David Stone by e-mail at: [email protected] or call him on 07811 421023.