Talking News returns to Rustington, with new recording studio opening as the charity’s permanent home
Sussex Coast Talking News has 'come home' to Rustington – just as it is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The charity distributes regular news broadcasts to listeners who are unable to look at a conventional newspaper.
The organisation began at Rustington Hall in 1975 and it has now moved back to the village.
Two years ago, the charity had to move to BizSpace in Littlehampton while building works were carried out at the site of its original home in the grounds of Rustington Hall.
Now, the charity has moved back to Rustington, to permanent premises in Church Road, where a new recording studio and offices have been established – reforging a link from the organisation's past.
The offices were built in the early 1990s by one of the founders of the organisation, solicitor Ron Wood, of R.G. Wood & Co, who passed away in 2019. The premises still belong to the family and they maintain close links with the charity to this day.
Now known as SCTN, the organisation began life as Voice of Progress, helped significantly at the outset with funding from holiday camp entrepreneur Sir Billy Butlin. Volunteers have since recorded fortnightly bulletins without a single issue being missed – even during covid.
Local news bulletins and a magazine on CDs and USB sticks are posted free of charge every fortnight to registered visually impaired and blind listeners from Shoreham to Bognor Regis, enabling them to stay fully up-to-date with news from the area.
Edits are prepared during the two weeks prior to recording, with broadcasts produced on a Tuesday evening, copied the day after, then posted to listeners. Various teams are involved, working on a rota basis.
Content for the broadcasts is kindly provided by the Worthing Herald and Littlehampton Gazette, whose editor-in-chief, Gary Shipton, is the charity’s Patron.
Rob Batho, SCTN director, said: “We have been enormously grateful to Rustington Hall over the years for their help and support in accommodating our recording studio and also to the Herald and Gazette for providing most of our news content.
"Now, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we are looking forward with great enthusiasm to the years ahead and continued success at our new offices, where we have a state-of-the-art recording studio with superb copying and office facilities.
"I am enormously grateful to all our volunteers who help make it all possible and also to our listeners, whose appreciation for our service is always much valued.”
Well over 1,200 editions have been produced since the charity was launched in 1975. with many leading politicians and celebrities, including Harold Macmillan, David Jacobs, Dave Allen, Margaret Thatcher and Barbara Cartland, interviewed for the magazine over the years.
During the covid lockdowns, volunteers turned their spare rooms into home studios to ensure the service continued without interruption.
For Christmas, a special pantomime edition, Aladdin and the Eco-villains, was written and produced by Patricia Feinberg Stoner and Philippa Bower, with Rob making a guest appearance as a villain.
SCTN is currently on the lookout for editors to help collate material for the edits for each bulletin. This is an ideal opportunity to be involved in a highly-appreciated news-gathering operation, with full training and support provided, and it would require a nominal time commitment.
If you would like to find out more, or if you know of anyone who you think may benefit from receiving 'talking news', contact Margaret Eagle at [email protected]
A book has been produced to mark the charity’s 50 years milestone and an anniversary party is being planned for late-June, to which all volunteers and listeners will be invited.