A LOCAL talking newspaper for the blind has received a £1,550 donation from a housebuilder.

Oxtalk, which has been running for 39 years, is a voluntary organisation providing visually impaired people in the Oxford area with a weekly digest of news from the local newspapers.

The service is free and is available on memory stick or directly from the organisation’s website.

Every week a team of nine from the total 53 volunteers meet at the Oxfordshire Association for the Blind to prepare items for recording, before sending each listener their own memory stick in the post - and now the organisation have more funds to update their equipment.

Margaret Simpson, chair at Oxtalk, has been volunteering for the charity for the last 37 years. She said: “We aim to keep visually impaired people in touch with local news, helping to reduce the feeling of isolation as well as keeping people informed.

"We currently send out over 125 USBs to mainly elderly listeners and in order to maintain this level of support, we were in need of a brand new copier to replace the older machines we have. We are so grateful for the support, allowing us to update our equipment.”

Stuart Wallace, Managing Director of CALA Homes (Chiltern), said: “Selecting the successful applicants of this year’s Community Bursary scheme was truly a tough decision as we had many candidates with worthwhile causes. The work that the Oxtalk does for visually impaired people in the local community really stood out to us, and provides an important service to over 125 people.”

For more information visit oxtalk.org.uk/