A talking newspaper group has had a charity appeal boosted thanks to a donation from a local fund raising group.

The Wisbech & District Talking Newspaper welcomed Lions’ President, David Smart and Vice President Ray Hill, who presented the committee with a cheque for the charity’s BoomBox appeal.

Wisbech Lions donated £700 which will allow the talking newspaper to buy all the memory sticks it needs for its listeners.

The newspaper is planning to move to digital recordings.

Talking Newspaper’s Press Officer, Isobel Shippey, said: “We were completely overwhelmed by the generosity of the Lions’ donation, we simply couldn’t believe it, it’s a great boost to our appeal.

“With donations from other Wisbech groups we should reach our target of £2000 very shortly. Once again, the generosity of Wisbech people has astounded us’.”

The Wisbech & District Talking Newspaper produces two one-hour issues of local news and one hourly magazine of varied interest each month.

The group currently produces these recordings in both cassette and CD format, but wants to convert to memory sticks, to be used on specially designed BoomBoxes for its blind and partially sighted listeners.

The recordings are posted and returned by post via the Royal Mail’s free Articles for the Blind scheme.

As a charity, the Newspaper relies solely on donations, bequests, grants and fundraising events to carry out its work, and is run entirely by volunteers, who read, record, copy and post it’s work from a recording studio based at Peckover House in Wisbech.

For more information about the group please visit its new website at www.wisbechafb.wordpress.com.