The idea of starting a talking newspaper for Bishop’s Stortford and the surrounding area was first raised in October 1978 and the first edition went out in February 1980. Many people were involved in that initial planning and preparation stages and many individuals and organisations helped to provide the necessary funds to get it all started, in particular Rotary and Inner Wheel and East Herts District Council. Particularly successful events included a sponsored sunflower competition in local schools and a boxing night organised by Rotary. Together these raised £5,000!
Our first studio was a portakabin which the Herts & Essex Hospital kindly allowed us to locate in their grounds. More recently, following the redevelopment of the site in 2003, the Hospital has made available two small rooms in the new building.
Our Talking Newspaper has always been fortunate in having a large number of volunteers who contribute in different ways to the running of the organisation. We still benefit greatly from the sound financial footing which those first volunteers established and we are grateful to the many people who have since made generous donations to us.
During the Covid 19 pandemic our volunteers were unable to use our recording studio in the Herts & Essex Hospital. Due to their dedication and determination, volunteers have been using smartphones, tablet computers and desktop computers in their own homes to record articles from the local newspapers. These articles are then sent by email to one of our technicians who checks/adjusts volume levels and compiles them into a complete recording of approximately 90 minutes on a master USB memory stick. This stick is delivered to distributors who make multiple copies which are placed in yellow zipper wallets and collected by Royal Mail who deliver them to our listeners. This system was so successful and popular with our volunteers that we have continued with it after the official end of the pandemic
We should like to thank all our volunteers, especially our editors, readers, technicians, distributors and Royal Mail who have enabled us to continue our 45 years of uninterrupted Talking Newspapers.