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Lions Magazine Audio Book June July 2011

The history of Talking Newspapers in Britain goes back 39 years to a man called Ronald Sturt. He had been to Sweden, the birthplace of Talking Newspapers, and brought the concept back with him. He founded the first British TN in Aberystwyth and then began a movement that saw growth across the nation so that now the are over 600 operations across Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.

For the past 39 years the technology used has been little changed. The vast majority of Talking Newspapers record on to tapes which are duplicated, despatched to the listeners and listened to on straight forward tape recorders. However, despite disbelief, that technology will cease to exist as early as 2012.

Some Talking Newspapers have already moved in to the digital world. The recordings are now stored on thumbdrives (memory sticks) and played back on what is known as a boombox. The improvements are immense, not only in quality but also in quantity. From being restricted to just one hour or 90 minutes, the thumbdrives can hold six hours of information and entertainment for the listener. The bridge back into the community has changed from a footbridge to the Golden Gate.

Lions have been deeply involved in Talking Newspapers for well over 30 years and now is the time to reinforce that involvement. We need to ensure that those Talking Newspapers that have yet to face the changes can do so with full support. We also need to ensure that no Talking Newspaper fails or that no area that should have a Talking Newspaper go uncovered.

We have now sent the new technology to every Lion that we know of who is either blind or visually impaired. If you know of someone that we have missed, please tell us. We are now producing the Lion Magazine as a podcast that will feature on the MD105BS site and it can be listened to by anyone from anywhere in the world.

If you are aware of a Talking Newspaper that needs support or a Lion who would benefit from receiving the Lion Magazine on tape, please contact Lion John May, Lichfield Lions, 07948794982, john@johnmay.org.uk or 10, Hawkesmoor Drive, Lichfield, Staffs, WS14 9YH.

Lion John May

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