Doncaster Talking Newspapers

18/10/2024

To listen to our latest news broadcast please click on the link below.

20/03/2024

We have just subscribed to Doncaster's Charity Hub for a year. We hope that this will produce tangible benefits for our charity and others.

06/03/2024

Far left.

Phil the chairman and Jan the secretary are looking for contacts at the latest Charity Hub meeting.

13/12/2022

Photographs from the Xmas recording of the Talking Newspaper.

The gentleman in the festive waistcoat is the current Civic Mayor, Cllr Ian Pearson who is blind.

04/11/2022

The current trustees.

04/11/2022

On Friday 4 November 2022 Faye Mackintosh, a news editor for Doncaster and District Talking Newspapers for the Blind, presented a Name-a-Puppy donation cheque for £2,500.00 to local Guide Dogs for the Blind fund-raiser Martin, seen here with his guide dog Stewart in front of Sprotbrough Community Library, where the Talking Newspapers are recorded

Faye has been a volunteer at Talking Newspapers for decades and, in her honour, the new puppy will be named “Mackie”.

For company Stewart brought along Chelsea, a trainee member of the Guide Dog team.

Earlier the trustees had met at the library to hold the Annual General meeting.

05/05/2022

With Jan Jackson from Doncaster Talking Newspapers for the Blind, talking about growing up in Doncaster and my experiences as an MP.

31/03/2022

For reasons best known to Mr Zuckerberg this FB page has been labelled "grey" and we have been told that unless we take action it will be deleted at the end of April 2022. We think that we can save the page by adding a new administrator but if this doesn't work the page will disappear. If you are one of our listeners and you use this page to listen to our broadcasts you will now have to do this either via Sprotbrough Community Library's website - links below - or via Alexa and the Talking Newspaper skill. Good luck.

NEWS http://www.bwbf.org.uk/player/?url=http://www.bwbf.org.uk/localtns/doncastertn/TOPD_playlist.pls

MAGAZINE http://www.bwbf.org.uk/player/?url=http://bwbf.org.uk/localtns/doncastermag/TOPD_playlist.pls

British Wireless for the Blind Fund web player brought to you by BWBF streamed service. Download the Talking Newspaper app for Android & iOS here - https://bwbf.org.uk/tn-app/download/

22/11/2021

We are looking for someone who is comfortable with computers to join our team as an audio engineer. Roughly once a month they will be required to manage a two hour Friday morning recording along with a colleague. All training will be provided. Voluntary job - no salary., just coffee and biscuits.

10/09/2021

Lunch at Whitby's for the Talking Newspaper unpaid volunteers, without whom there would be no service.

05/09/2021

Doncaster’s Talking Newspaper (DonTNB) relies heavily on the generosity of The Doncaster Free Press to provide local news items which inform and entertain our blind and partially sighted listeners
For once, here is a nice item FROM the Talking Newspaper TO The Doncaster Free Press
Outside the “recording studio” at Sprotbrough Community Library, representatives from Guide Dogs for the Blind (including puppy-in-training Bracken) received a cheque to sponsor a guide dog from DonTNB. The sponsored puppy will be called Victor to remember Victor Hext who produced, fund-raised and generally supported DonTNB for over 30 years

Encl. Picture of the recording and the subsequent cheque presentation.

01/06/2021

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST. It costs nothing and may help someone, possibly a friend of a friend who can't read newsprint.

We are a local charity set up to provide fortnightly news via memory sticks sent by FREEPOST to those who are registered as blind or partially sighted. There are also people who cannot read newsprint who are not registered as blind or partially sighted. To reach these people, who aren't allowed to use FREEPOST, we make our broadcasts freely available through the internet and now via Alexa.

To get started using the Alexa skill say “Alexa, enable Talking Newspapers”, making sure you use the plural. Then say “Alexa, open Talking Newspapers” to your Alexa device. A short message will play, meaning you have successfully started the skill.
To get started listening, say “Alexa play” and the name of the title you would like to listen to. For example, “Alexa, play Doncaster Talking Newspaper”, or “Alexa, play Doncaster Talking Magazine.”
The functions which currently should work are:
Alexa Next,
Alexa Previous,
Alexa Pause,
Alexa Resume and
Alexa Stop.
You can change the newspaper you are listening to by saying “Alexa Stop” and then saying for example, “Alexa play Cue and Review Herald.” or “Alexa, play Sheffield Talking Newspaper”,

Once the skill has been enabled, on all subsequent visits you have to say -
"Alexa, open Talking Newspapers" then,
"Alexa play (Name of publication)

01/06/2021

In view of the current focus on salaries paid to those chairing charities, we would like to announce that our chairman, Phil, has given up 50% of his annual package.

Last year he took home two biscuits. This year, due to the pandemic, it will be one.

28/05/2021

To listen via Alexa.

To get started using the skill say “Alexa, enable Talking Newspapers”, making sure you use the plural. Then say “Alexa, open Talking Newspaper” to your Alexa device. A short message will play, meaning you have successfully started the skill.

To get started listening, say “Alexa play” and the name of the title you would like to listen to. For example, “Alexa, play Doncaster Talking Newspaper”, or “Alexa, play Doncaster Talking Magazine.”

The functions which currently should work are:
Alexa Next,
Alexa Previous,
Alexa Loop, (??)
Alexa Pause,
Alexa Resume and
Alexa Stop.

You can change the newspaper you are listening to by saying “Alexa Stop” and then saying for example, “Alexa play Cue and Review Herald.” or “Alexa, play Sheffield Talking Newspaper”,


Once the skill has been enabled, on all subsequent visits you have to say -

"Alexa, open Talking Newspaper" then,

"Alexa play (Name of publication).John Andrews

10/04/2021

Yesterday, Friday 9 April 2021, we had the first broadcast from Sprotbrough Communiry Library after months of home editions. Everyone involved was very happy to be back.

11/02/2021

Do you know someone who likes to keep up with the local news in Doncaster, but who can't read newsprint?

There are all sorts of reasons why people struggle with physical newspapers. For example, sight issues, physical problems, an inability to concentrate.

Our core role is to serve the registered blind and partially sighted listeners with a postal audio service, but our News and Magazine broadcasts are available to anyone online or via a smartphone.

You can listen via the links embedded in the first post on this page.

For anyone who hasn't got access to Facebook, they can click on our links at the bottom of this page -
http://www.sprotbroughlibrary.org.uk/library-services/digital-audio-services/

If you have a smartphone you can find us through the BWFB app -

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.org.blind.TalkingNews

If you have any questions you can reach us on 07530526654.

04/02/2021

https://www.tnf.org.uk/talking-newspaper-on-alexa

Its here! Listen to Talking Newspapers and Magazines on Alexa. No need to wait for the post, access your Talking Newspaper when you want, sit back and relax and listen to your local news and information on Alexa Click here for further information

09/10/2020

Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy walker Joyce and her boisterous charge Frankie, are shown about to accept a cheque for £2,500.00 from Phil Hague, the chairman of Doncaster Talking Newspapers for the Blind (DTNB). The presentation took place in front of Sprotbrough Community Library, where DTNB have a studio,
This donation was made in memory of David Hainsworth, a long serving former trustee of the local charity, who died this year aged 92. He was well known in Doncaster for his long career as a respected solicitor but also for his musicality, which he loved to share. Very many Doncaster residents will have visited Priory Place Methodist Church over the years to enjoy one of the wonderful concerts which David organised, promoted and supervised. In honour of his memory the puppy, sponsored by Talking Newspapers will be called David.
It is because of the hard work and dedication of generations of trustees like David who, over almost fifty years, have secured the financial future of the Talking Newspaper, that the local charity is able to make this donation for the benefit of blind and partially sighted people in Doncaster. And, of course, the Newspaper would have no local news to pass on to its listeners without the continuing help of the Doncaster Free Press.