About Us

7 July 2016

Witney Talking News (WTN) is a registered charity (No 277434) providing a free weekly talking news service to local people in West Oxfordshire who are visually impaired or who otherwise have difficulty holding and reading newspapers.

Editions are posted free-of-charge courtesy of the FREE delivery service from the Royal Mail so listeners do not incur costs either for receiving the service or returning the pouch.

Listeners receive a weekly USB stick loaded with around an hour of news recorded each Thursday evening from a variety of sources, primarily the Witney Gazette. This can be played back on the dedicated simple to use playback units that are provided free of charge. They can also be played back on some newer talking book machines or on your own computer.

The chair leads a small committee and a volunteer pool of around 50 people with a variety of skills. It takes around 11 people to make each recording, and we record in the Methodist Church on the High Street in Witney each Thursday except at Easter and Christmas.

In addition to weekly recordings, we produce magazine editions (approximately twice per year). These usually have a theme and contain a mixture of original journalism, one-off interviews and feature items.

Founded in 1979, WTN is affiliated to the Talking News Federation, the umbrella organisation that represents the interests of local Talking Newspapers in the UK and from whom it gains valuable advice and support.