By Peter Drysdale
We wondered if it would work again, but it did! Abba Chique returned to Caterham School for another stupendous Lions Club fundraising evening.
The Frida and Agnetha lookalikes opened with ‘Hello Caterham!’, and the audience of around 280 replied with gusto! The first half contained many of Abba’s hit songs, and although in the second half there were some less well-remembered ones, that didn’t stop people boogieing and singing along enthusiastically. The general consensus was ‘A great evening – thank you, Lions!’
And thank you to everybody who, with lots of hard work, made this event possible, including Caterham School for the use of their magnificent theatre. Lion President Tony listed the organisations currently benefitting from the club’s donations, including the Air Ambulance, St. Catherine’s Hospice, Caterham Food Bank and Clockwork, a charity helping our children with mental health problems, which sadly are much worse since the pandemic.
Our next fundraising event will be a trivia quiz on the 15 June. Spaces for teams are going fast: call Lion Tony on 01883 335945.
The Lions Club began in the Tandridge area in 1978, and one of our lasting legacies is founding a talking newspaper in 1981.
‘What’s a talking newspaper?’ we hear you cry! A talking newspaper provides regular audio newscasts of local news to people with impaired vision, who can not read standard newsprint. Talking newspapers exist across the country and provide pleasure to many thousands of listeners.
Back then, cassettes and cassette players were used, but technology has advanced enormously and our talking newspaper is now provided on USB sticks. These are played on a boom box (provided) or the listener’s laptop or other device. Visually impaired people can access the internet with the aid of large print or talking computers and maybe download most newspapers, but many prefer proper human voices to give them a regular update on what’s going on locally.
It is run entirely by volunteers: a team of editors select suitable articles from printed publications for the readers and a sound engineer masterminds the recording, which takes place in a studio in Caterham. The Tandridge Lions Talking Newspaper also provides a magazine of infinite variety, recorded by around 20 volunteers in a rota.
For more than 40 years the talking newspaper was a weekly publication but the pandemic closed everything down. Studio manager Steve, along with chairman and magazine editor Diana, organised three extra-long magazines over the three months of the summer of 2020, which was hoped would ease the isolation often felt by the visually impaired even without lockdowns.
With the easing of restrictions, the talking newspaper roared back fortnightly – two readers instead of four, and at present has a listenership of around 50. The newscasts and magazines arrive in plastic wallets through the post. To receive the next edition, the listener reverses the address label and posts the wallet back.
To know more, please phone Diana on 01883 7472708. Should you know anybody with impaired vision, please tell them about the Tandridge Lions Talking Newspaper.
Looking ahead to Godstone Fete on August bank holiday Monday, we’re seeking volunteers to help us: erecting marquees, flipping burgers and selling products to the thousands that attend. If you can help, contact Lion John: 01883 742680.
We would love to hear from anyone who would like to find out more about our very friendly club. Our membership secretary is Tony Carter: contact him on 01883 741809 or tonylcarter@outlook.com.
The club has a minibus available for community use. Contact Lion David on 01342 893353.
