New Chair for Chatterbox talking newspaper

 From https://folkfeatures.co.uk/new-chair-for-chatterbox-talking-newspaper/

Paul Henderson is the newly-elected Chair for Norwich talking new

Paul Henderson is the newly-elected Chair for Norwich talking newspaper, Chatterbox. Here, the former head teacher explains his role – and how Chatterbox would like to reach out to younger people who are blind or vision impaired

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Paul Henderson, and I have just been elected chair of Chatterbox, the Norwich Talking Newspaper. My role is to lead the trustees’ meetings and, with the help of a large team of experienced volunteers, the production of all our audio news and features programmes for people who are blind or vision impaired in the Norwich region. All these services are free of any charge.

What has led you to becoming the new Chair of Chatterbox and what were you doing before?

Before I retired, I was a head teacher. I have been volunteering at Chatterbox for about three years, firstly working as a sub-editor on one of the teams adapting the newspaper articles from the Evening News and Eastern Daily Press for use in the recordings. Secondly, I became a news reader for one of the four teams, after an audition with the Chatterbox listeners’ panel! 

Most recently I have also been leading a team of interviewers who record “chats” with people from the local area who have something interesting to talk about, for example, the Cathedral organist, a retired teacher who had an interest in local history, and a vision impaired person who has just been given the support of a Guide Dog.

For those not in the know, how does Chatterbox help people who are vision impaired or blind in Norwich and beyond?

Chatterbox was set up in 1978 as one of the first talking newspaper services in the country. We started by sending recordings in the post, initially by tape, to people’s homes to keep them in touch with what’s happening in the local area on a weekly basis. Now we record to memory sticks and beside weekly news recordings, we offer Norfolk Magazine monthly and entertain listeners with additional audio articles through our Just Talk production and quarterly chats (Chataround). We are a member of the Talking News Federation (TNF), which represents 300 UK based talking newspapers (TNs).

In recent years there has been a move to make it possible to access all our programmes in different ways, for example using an app created by the TNF and British Wireless for the Blind Fund (BWBF), via the Chatterbox website, or most recently through smart speakers. Chatterbox can supply listeners who are blind or vision impaired with a smart speaker and one of our team will visit their home to set it up and show how to make it work. Chatterbox is fundamentally trying to bring the outside world into our listeners’ homes and help them feel more in touch with what matters to them.

As chair, what are your hopes for the charity over the next three years?

Initially my hopes for the next three years are to maintain the high standards of programmes that we currently produce, and to increase the numbers of listeners we reach. In particular, we would like to reach out to any younger people who are blind or vision impaired, and perhaps to make the use of smart speakers and the app more the norm and easiest way to access our programmes.

How can people either become a listener, or volunteer for Chatterbox?

Anyone interested in gaining access to our programmes can do so by visiting the Chatterbox website or the Talking Newspaper app. If they would like to receive the programmes by memory stick (plus a receiver supplied by Chatterbox) or by smart speaker (again supplied by Chatterbox) they should contact Chatterbox by email (contact@cbtn.org.uk) or by phone (01603 765365) and leave a message and we will call them back.

If anyone is interested in becoming a volunteer at Chatterbox, they should check our website (cbtn.org.uk) and again contact us by phone or email.