'Lifeline' charity for blind looking for new home in Shropshire

A charity that provides a "lifeline" news service to the visually impaired says it is desperately looking for a new home.

The East Shropshire Talking Newspaper provides around 160 subscribers with a weekly 80-minute update of news and features.

It must leave its current base in Ketley in June and requires two rooms either for free or for low rent.

Chris Pitchford from the group said they do not have a guaranteed income.

"We need somewhere exclusive to ourselves," he said.

"We have tried to see if we could share with other people but we think from a security and practicality point of view, it doesn't work.

"A lot of listeners say we are a lifeline... many listeners say we also provide them with a lot of company and comfort as a lot live alone."

The charity which has been running for more than 30 years now provides its news on a USB stick as well as online via an app.

One room would be used to put the news items together and the second to prepare the distribution, Mr Pitchford said.

"We're the only provider of news in an audio format on a local basis," he said.

"Since Covid we had to learn to do everything remotely and now, if necessary we can record remotely, but we need somewhere to prepare all the sticks for distribution."

Anyone who can help is asked to contact the charity.

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