Cornwall talking newspaper heard again after lockdown

Blind and visually-impaired people in Cornwall are getting a talking newspaper again after it stopped during the coronavirus lockdown.

Staff and volunteers stopped producing the Cornish Talking Newspaper, set up in 1973, because their studio was too small to socially distance in.

After restrictions began to ease, those involved were able to send out copies on USB sticks every fortnight.

They were now back to publishing every week, managers said.

The charity-run service based in Truro sends out USB memory sticks with news from around Cornwall, as well as offering a magazine section with articles, stories and interviews.

Most users of the service would play the paper on a small media player, separate from a computer, for ease of use, staff said.

When fully up and running, it sends an average of about 100 copies a week, with the memory sticks sent and returned every week via Royal Mail's articles for the blind service, they added.

However, after Covid lockdown restrictions were introduced in 2020, staff were only able to start work again in May this year,

Charity secretary Louise Perry said: "Once things eased off a little bit, we came back and we got them out every couple of weeks.

"We're back up and running and it's every week now."