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Welcome to the home of Sheffield Talking News.

Our mission is to provide a weekly overview of local news content to blind and visually impaired people in the city. We currently have over 200 clients registered to use our free service, and each week our editors choose an interesting balance of news and feature stories, which are read aloud by our team of volunteers.

We are always on the lookout for better and faster ways to bring the news to your door - our clients can listen online, via our free postal memory stick service, podcast, smartphone app or even via Amazon's Alexa.

Whether a listener, a volunteer, a donor or someone who wants a recording made, please explore the site to see what we have to offer.

What's Happening at Sheffield Talking News?

On the 14th May, 2024 Sheffield Talking News (STN) was presented with our King's Award for Voluntary Service by the Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Professor Dame Hilary Chapman DBE RN, the Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire. She was accompanied by Councilor Colin and Mrs Susan Ross, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Sheffield, and welcomed by Mary Blakemore, Acting Chair of STN, and Jane Peach from Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind (SRSB). The event was attended by volunteers and listeners from STN, SRSB who kindly hosted the event, and guests from other supporting organisations.

Following a discussion in the studio with technician Phil George, a short film of our listeners by John Stratford and brief speeches, the Lord Lieutenant formally presented the citation to Alan Thorpe and his assistance dog Velvet. In return Alan, who is both a visually impaired listener and a committee member of Sheffield Talking News, gave Dame Hilary a copy of the citation which he had prepared in Braille.

Following the formal proceedings there were photographs, refreshments and a chance to chat.

Sheffield Talking News is proud to receive this prestigious award and thanks all its volunteers, supporters and partner organisations, as well as its listeners, and poignantly acknowledge the significant role played by our late chair, Mary Callaghan.

You can also read the story in the Sheffield Star