Tynedale Lions Club has secured five more years of Tynedale Talking Newspaper’s weekly recordings by donating 150 memory sticks.

The essential items are used to store the news from Courant articles which are recorded every Thursday afternoon by a Tynedale Talking Newspaper (TTN) team, and distributed to more than 100 sight-impaired individuals across Tynedale via Royal Mail Freepost as a free service.

Tynedale Lions Club's intervention was timely as the Tynedale Talking's existing memory sticks had begun to have problems.

Tynedale Lions president, Julia Oake said: "We were delighted to be able to help.

"The Talking Newspaper offers an excellent service to the people of Tynedale who are blind or partially sighted and we want them to maintain this".

A Lions team is one of the TTN recording teams, and Ms Oake regularly lends her voice to it.

She said: "We know how much the listeners value the weekly contact with what’s happening in Tynedale that TTN gives.

"The listeners look forward to the memory sticks dropping through their doors each week.

"It’s a vital link for them to local news and local people".

Dave Clegg, chair of TTN, said: "Honours go to Tynedale Lions Club for stepping up so rapidly and so willingly.

"High quality memory sticks are vital for us – they have to withstand a weekly trial by fast-copying.

"It’s great when one local charity can assist another.

"Thank you, Tynedale Lions!"

TTN, which has been providing a free service since its registration as a charity back in 1982, also welcomes new listeners.

Interested parties are urged to reach out to Ed on 07400 096937.