For over 40 years a dedicated group of volunteers have been providing a much needed service to the blind and visually impaired residents of Newham.

In 1978, Harry Reeve and his wife began recording articles from the local press onto cassette tapes for distribution by post. A simple but successful idea that soon outgrew the space in their front room.

After much campaigning and fund-raising, a disused council-house was made available in 1982, at a peppercorn rent, providing an office and recording studio.

Fast forward to 2021, and the Association has moved three times, now using a school classroom in East Ham. The newspaper is still weekly, still free, although tapes have given way to CDs, online editions, and even Alexa! The essential idea hasn’t changed: to be the Voice of Newham for visually impaired resident; friendly voices reading local news, events and stories.

The volunteers have kept the newspaper going throughout the pandemic, recording from their own homes when they couldn’t meet in person, but are now planning to get back into the studio.

If you are a visually impared person and would like to receive a weekly CD, or you would like to join our reading team, please email us at newhamtalkingnewspaper@gmail.com.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

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Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.