A VOLUNTEER who has spent more than 20 years recording local newspapers for blind and partially sighted people has received a gift of appreciation after standing down from the role at the age of 93.

Kasey Jones, from Tavistock, said he had hugely enjoyed carrying out twice weekly recording sessions at the Plymouth and West Devon Talking Newspaper’s offices behind Tavistock Post Office. He recorded the news from the Tavistock Times Gazette and Okehampton Times and other local newspapers as well as features from other publications.

Kasey explained that when he first started volunteering with the charity, he offered to read the news, but found that doing the technical side was better suited to his skills

‘I’m 93 now and I really meant to pack it in when I was 90, but they couldn’t get a replacement! That was what the award was for really, for my age, because there are people who have been serving the charity longer than I have.

‘There are six engineers and we do it on a six weekly rota, on Thursday evenings. We also do it on a Monday afternoon, recording features, chosen by the editors, for which there are three of us.’

Asked if he had enjoyed the work, he said ‘very much so’, particularly because of the company of the other volunteers, who number over 70.

‘There is a great diversity in the organisation, so there are different roles. Some deal with sending the mail out; the recordings are sent out on a USB stick.

‘I have recorded sermons for the church, that is how I first got involved,’ he added.

‘When they [the talking newspaper] interviewed me they showed me the recording equipment and I said I know all about that because I have recorded for the church and they immediately grabbed me and asked me to join the team. That was basically it. I did try reading, but I wasn’t very good at it. When I heard myself, I wasn’t very expressive. The recording is a very satisfying job and it is very rewarding to see how much people appreciate what we do.’

Rosemary Gibbs, from the charity, said: ‘Kasey has been wonderful because he does the computer side of it so the likes of me, the editors – a rather grand name for what we do! – are sometimes not totally adept at computers and so he has been an absolute stalwart and lovely to work with.’

The talking newspaper service allows people who cannot see well enough to read to keep up with local news.

It was partiuclarly valued by people during covid.

The service is free and looking for new listeners who might benefit, call 01822 618922.