Ever stopped to think how a blind or partially-sighted person might access a newspaper? Well, thanks to the efforts of volunteers, visually impaired people across south Bucks have been enjoying the Free Press and other publications for more than 20 years.

We take a closer look at the Talking Newspapers charity.

LAST month the High Wycombe branch of Talking Newspapers staged a celebratory get-together.

Among those sharing in the group's 20-year success were volunteers past and present who, over the years, have disregarded their own spare time to bring news into the homes of the visually impaired.

"One man stood up and thanked us all for our efforts," said current chairman Ray Moorin. "But before he sat down he reminded us to make sure his tape arrived on time the following week.

"That gives you an idea of how they rely on the service. It's a way of overcoming a disability. If they can access a newspaper then they can keep up with events."

Aside from the volunteers who bring print to life, cassette tapes have formed the backbone of the service since it began recording in 1984. A year later High Wycombe Talking Newspapers produced its first tape.

Two decades and 1,000 issues later, the service still provides for more than 160 people across the district.

Mr Moorin, who joined the service five years ago, added: "It's very simple really. While we read the newspaper it's recorded. The tape is then sent to a subscriber who can listen to it at leisure.

"We often take things like newspapers and magazines for granted. But for blind or partially-sighted people it's not so simple. That's why the service is invaluable to them."

Offices at High Wycombe cemetery give volunteers the quiet environment required to produce high quality tapes of the Free Press, National Trust newsletters, and Wycombe District Council's Community Voice.

Subscribers can also access a variety of national newspapers and magazines through the Talking Newspaper Association for the UK (TNAUK), an umbrella organisation for the 520 branches nationwide.

Tim McDonald, TNAUK chief executive, said: "We call ourselves the newsagents for visually impaired people.

"We already deliver newspapers and magazines to around 10,000 subscribers, but there are obviously many thousands more who could benefit from this invaluable service.

"This is a service that can transform a person's life."

The service was born from a growing demand among the visually impaired, with libraries failing to provide the same wealth of resources for the blind that fully-sighted people take for granted.

Nicole Davy, ambassador for TNAUK, who lost her sight to diabetes 11 years ago, said: "I lost count of the number of libraries I had to leave without getting access to the publications I wanted.

"Staff seem too busy to help or are simply unavailable when you need them. There are thousands of blind people being let down."

But with recent investment by way of a National Lottery grant and advances in technology TNAUK hopes it will not be too long before it is able to offer time-sensitive information to subscribers in just minutes.

CDs may be slowly replacing cassettes, but it is state-of-the-art digital recording that is causing hearts to beat at the charity's headquarters in Heathfield, East Sussex.

Ted Davis, chairman of TNAUK, added: "Advances in software mean that artificial speech can be reproduced to an entirely acceptable level more like a radio broadcast than the hollow, tiny robotic speech of science fiction films."

But it could be advances in medicine, that may be responsible for a recent decline in subscribers at some south Bucks groups.

Bryan Bishop, a former chairman for 12 years of the Amersham and Chesham branch, said numbers continued to dwindle in the area.

He added: "The service is still as important as when it first started, there just aren't so many people using it anymore."

For more information, contact TNAUK on 01435 866102