About
Many of us enjoy keeping up to date with local news either when the paper edition lands on our doormat or reading it online, but for some, reading the local paper is not so simple. As we get older, ...
Making a difference to the lives of local blind & visually impaired people
Scan me or visit www.govolherts.org.uk/o/wwwsnhtalkingnewscouk/opportunities/Making-a-difference-to-the-lives-of-local-blind--visually-impaired-people/58398 to join
Contact person
Summary
We are a group of around 25 volunteers looking for someone to ensure our weekly newspaper for the blind reaches our listeners in the North Herts area.Detailed description
Despatch Team Rôle
Stevenage and North Herts Talking News is a group of volunteers who work as a team to produce a weekly recording of the local news for the blind or partially sighted. We send the news out to our listeners every week on USB sticks delivered in plastic wallets.
We are looking to recruit someone within our despatch team to ensure each listener receives their copy each week.
This rôle takes 2-3 hours a week, and mostly needs to be done on a Friday morning. It involves collecting returned memory sticks from Stevenage Sorting Office so you'll need your own transport, preferably a car. You will need to have your own PC or laptop and have a basic working knowledge of MS Excel. It would also be an advantage if you have access to a printer. As you will be in contact with vulnerable people, we shall need you to be DBS checked.
Key responsibilities/process:
· Collecting returned wallets containing USB sticks from Stevenage delivery office at London Road SG1 1AA (Wednesday or Thursday)
· Removing USB sticks from wallets, checking for any notes from listeners (such as change of address), and updating the listener database
· Taking delivery of the master USB stick from the compiler/sound technician and making sufficient copies for that week’s listeners (Thursday evening/Friday morning). A duplicator will be provided for this.
· Filling wallets with the duplicated USB sticks, ensuring the address labels are correct
· Posting the wallets (Friday)
· Making up new labels for any new listeners, and adding them to the distribution list/spreadsheet
· Following up by phone any listeners who have failed to return their wallets, recording any phone calls on the listener database
About Stevenage & North Herts Talking News
The idea of a Talking Newspaper is to help those who cannot easily read their local paper by turning it into an audio file so that users can listen to the paper instead of trying to read it. Our stated aim is to provide blind and visually impaired people in the local area with a regular, weekly, dependable news and information service, free of charge to the user. Our service is open to anyone who is blind or visually impaired; they do not have to be registered blind. It is also open to anyone who is unable to read a newspaper for any other reason. We have around 50 listeners at present. Many of them are referred to us by sight loss professionals or hear about us at local support groups or by word of mouth.