A CHARITY which has provided blind people in Wisbech with local news for more than 30 years has been given a home at one of the town s most prestigious buildings after staff needed to find new premises. The Wisbech and District Talking Newspaper needed to

A CHARITY which has provided blind people in Wisbech with local news for more than 30 years has been given a home at one of the town's most prestigious buildings after staff needed to find new premises.

The Wisbech and District Talking Newspaper needed to relocate from the town's Queen Mary Centre where it had been based for the last 15 years.

A search was launched to find a new home, but after a chance meeting it was decided that the staff could move to the National Trust's Peckover House.

A spokesman for the trust, said: "The partnership between the trust and Wisbech's talking newspaper came about by chance following a donation by the talk service of several hundred books to the property's second hand bookshop.

"A commercial lease has since been signed and the Wisbech and District Talking Newspaper has now set up its base in one of the upstairs meeting rooms of Peckover House."

More than 30 volunteers work for the newspaper and they will meet twice a month at Peckover to record articles on to tapes, which are then sent out to blind and visually impaired residents in the Wisbech area.

The spokesman, added: "It is a great way for them to keep in touch with the local community and provides them with an intimate sense of belonging with friendly and familiar voices in the home each month."

It is hoped that funds will be raised this year to help pay for new equipment to enable staff to record the articles on to CDs instead of tapes.

Anyone wanting to find out more about the talking newspaper is asked to call Barbara Terry on 01945 773805.