There are lots of different roles – here are some examples of things you could do. If you’re interested in joining us, please contact us.
This section includes interviews with some of our volunteers, followed by descriptions of the six teams that help produce the recordings for our listeners.
A volunteer’s story – Linda Clinton
I joined Roundabout Talking News in 2002 – just after I retired from banking in the City. My aunt had been a recipient of the weekly audio cassette for several years and she got a good deal of enjoyment from it. I felt that I could, and should, give some of my time to the charity. I intended to help on the admin side of things but soon got persuaded to audition for news reading…and I have been news reading for more than 22 years now! I took on the responsibility for leading the news reading team about 15 years ago. That involves creating a 3-monthly rota for the volunteer readers, ensuring that we have three available to read the news each Thursday. Over the course of those years, volunteers have come and gone. By far the most challenging aspect is to ensure that we have the right number of readers so each volunteer can read once a month – not too often and not too little.
Somewhere along the line I was roped into the editing team and I have been part of that team for over 15 years. So over the course of a month I spend an hour news reading, another 2 hours or so (sometimes 4 if we are short of volunteers) editing, plus the time taken to manage the news reading team – and I also sit on the charity’s committee.
What do I get out of volunteering? It keeps my brain active, I enjoy the company of the other volunteers who come from many different backgrounds but, most importantly, I feel I am giving something back to the local area. I am Sussex born and bred so this county and the Horsham area mean a lot to me.
Preparation Team
Responsible for sorting the postal wallets returned from listeners which contain memory sticks. All the postal wallets are put in alphabetical order by listener’s name to facilitate the dispatch of that week’s recordings.
The team meets at the studio on Thursday evenings at 4.45pm for approximately 45 minutes. There is a rota in place which should mean helping out every third week.
Editing Team
Responsible for selecting articles from the West Sussex County Times and editing them down to a maximum of 300 words in order to include more items in the recording. Articles are selected to try to include not only items on Horsham but also the surrounding villages.
The team meets at the studio on Thursday evenings at 4.45pm for approximately 45 minutes. There is a rota in place which should mean helping out every third week.
Readers
Responsible for reading the articles edited from the West Sussex County Times such that they are digitally recorded in the studio.
The team meets at the studio on Thursday evenings at 7pm for approximately 45 minutes. There is a rota in place which means helping out once a month.
Magazine Team
Responsible for creating or selecting items that would be of interest to the visually impaired listeners and recording those items in the studio.
The team meets at the studio on Thursday evenings at 5.30pm for approximately 50 minutes. There are 2 magazine teams, with one month on and one month off.
Sound Technicians
Responsible for the recordings on to the hard drive of the computer in the studio and for ensuring the satisfactory quality of the recordings. They also create master copies of the recording on memory sticks.
Sound engineers are expected to arrive at the studio at around 5.30pm and stay until after the recordings finish at 7.45pm as they then have to make some enhancements to the recordings and create the master copies.
Fast Copying Team
Responsible for the production of the memory sticks with that week’s recording, for our listeners. This is achieved with the use of fast copying machines. In addition the team place the memory sticks in the postal wallets and deliver them to the Royal Mail Sorting Office.
The team meets at the studio on Friday mornings at 8.30am for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. There is a rota in place which means helping out once a month.