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Bedford Talking Newspaper for the Blind (BDAN) Registered UK charity no. 802814 |
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About B.D.A.N.
Revised: May 2022 Founded in 1978, Bedford and District Audio News (BDAN) is a registered UK charity. It records and distributes free weekly CDs of local press stories, all read in English, for those who cannot see, have a visual impairment or cannot hold a newspaper. The news output is also available, for free, to a wider audience via this website. BDAN is run by unpaid volunteers and the newspaper area covers roughly a 10-15 mile radius around Bedford in eastern England, United Kingdom. Bedford is about 60 miles north of London.
RECORDING THE NEWSPAPER
The COVID pandemic totally changed BDAN's operating model and these changes remain in place.
BDAN felt it was important to continue the newspaper during the pandemic. For hygiene reasons the returnable flash drive service was and remains suspended, but the web version continued and the CD service expanded. Flash drive listeners were offered the CD service and many migrated. Initially it was necessary to use electronically generated voices but as time went by BDAN was contacted by readers able to record at home and the current system evolved. The editor emails articles to the readers who email their recordings to the technician. The technician constructs the newspaper to the editor’s instructions before copying and dispatching the CDs. The newspaper is also loading onto this website. BDAN now intends to reinstate studio recording teams augmented with readers who prefer to record at home and it is hoped the quarterly magazine and the flash drive service will resume sometime this year. The weekly CD arrives in a "Cardboard mailer". Both can be recycled, there is nothing to return. The picture below shows a CD and mailer.  FUNDING
BDAN is funded entirely from donations, and the picture below shows Lesley Pitter receiving a donation from Rita Holyoak of the Bedford Brickhill Ladies Group to aid our running costs.
Around 50 listeners currently take the free compact discs. Most live locally, while others reside further afield - keen to catch up with Bedford's news if they have moved away or have a connection to the town. Generously, Royal Mail does not charge for conveying the mail, under the Articles For The Blind postal concession. The small charity is run by a committee that meets each quarter, and is elected at the spring Annual General Meeting (AGM) - to which listeners, volunteers and members of the public and press are most welcome. Chairmen of BDAN 1978-87 Mr Cyril Humphreys 1987-88 Mr Alan Charge 1988-97 Mr Roy Purser 1997-04 Mrs Eira Grewer 2004-10 Mrs Delia Partridge 2010 Mr Tom Owens 2011- Mr David Mitchell Current Commitee Positions (as at AGM 2012) Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary Treasurer Publicity Engineer Social Secretary Fundraising Volunteer Rotas Listener Representatives (two positions)
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