Janet and Sarah (pictured above) from Fenprobe Talking News were at Nellie’s Community Café in Sutton this morning. Fenprobe is one of the two charities for which Nellie’s will be fundraising over the coming months.

Fenprobe is a free service for blind or visually impaired residents in East Cambridgeshire. It’s moved on considerably since it was launched in late 1978, when the weekly news was sent out on 30 minute cassette tapes. Now there’s a smart black player (free of charge) with bright yellow buttons, which runs on rechargeable batteries – and the news is delivered on a USB stick, which holds a lot more information.

Fenprobe rents a studio in Ely, where over forty volunteers help read the news, on a five-weekly rota. There’s also a monthly magazine. Fenprobe relies entirely on donations and grants, and is very grateful for the support from Nellie’s.

Users of the service need to register, and must be referred by a doctor, optician or professional carer. If you know someone who has difficulty reading the local news, and who would benefit from this service, you can contact the secretary on 01353 861153.

Janet and Sarah also tell me they are always on the lookout for volunteer sound engineers – so if you have experience in that field, do give them a call on the number above.