Listeners enjoy tea and cake with the Talking Newspaper group

Listeners who had been brought to the event by talking paper volunteers found that organiser Christine Madeley and her team had decorated St Martha’s Church Hall at Little Common with patriotic red, white and blue bunting.

Volunteers served nearly 50 of the free weekly tape-recorded news service’s visually-impaired listeners with an excellent variety of sandwiches and cakes before chairman Cllr Brian Kentfield performed a special ceremony.

Each weekly cassette has 45 minutes of news taken from the Bexhill Observer and read by rota teams and 45 minutes of material produced by the organisation’s magazine teams.

When Anne Paisley recently gave up the key role of coordinating the work of the registered charity’s magazine teams she had notched up a quarter of a century of service. Vi Pluck, who until recently was a lead reader, had given 24 years.

Unable to be present was Geof Renvoize who recently had to quit as long-serving leader of the outfit’s coordinators and recorders as his own sight is failing.

On behalf of listeners, the chairman presented both Anne and Vi with framed certificates of thanks, marking their valued service. He later presented Geof with his certificate at home.

Thanking the ladies, the chairman told them: “You have both done fantastic service and I know that all these people here have enjoyed all that you have done.”

Anne told the listeners: “I do miss you and I am thinking about you.”

Vi said: “It has always been a pleasure reading for you.”

After a special Royal Jubilee Year toast in sparkling elderflower cordial was proposed by the chairman, former long-serving recording coordinator Mick Mills reminded the assembly that the BTNA is itself celebrating 35 years of voluntary service to visually-impaired people in the town.

The assembly welcomed the return of keyboard entertainer Peter Willson, who presented a sing-along selection of popular war-time favourites.

The chairman wound-up the afternoon by announcing that the talking paper hopes to complete the last phase of its digitalisation process shortly with the issue of boom-box devices on which listeners can enjoy the talking paper via weekly memory sticks.