PUBLIC BENEFIT REPORT
MID ULSTER TALKING NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION
PUBLIC BENEFIT
The purpose of the Mid Ulster Talking Newspaper Association (MUTNA) is to provide a weekly Talking Newspaper called Soundtrack for the visually impaired people of the Mid Ulster area without distinction of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnic origin. Soundtrack is recorded using a Tascam Digital Recorder and consists of two sections. These are the news section which comes from the weekly newspapers, The Mid Ulster Mail, The Mid Ulster Courier and the Tyrone Courier and a magazine section which consists of articles of local interest, short stories, quizzes, jokes and so on. There are two teams of volunteers reading the news and they read on alternate weeks; the magazine is recorded by five volunteers who each contribute one magazine monthly approximately. These benefits have been demonstrated this year by the feedback received at the Annual General Meeting and from feedback through the year when listeners have told us that they look forward to Soundtrack arriving each week. The direct benefit to the beneficiaries included the lessening of feelings of isolation and depression due to their disability and an increased feeling of independence when they are able to operate their equipment to listen to news, stories etc. hence increasing their engagement with the wider community. The only private benefits have been the skills in reading for our volunteers and in operating the digital technology. These are incidental and necessary because of the service we provide.
MID ULSTER TALKING NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION NIC100190 TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FINANCIAL YEAR 01 APRIL 2023- 31 MARCH 2024
The purpose of the Mid Ulster Talking Newspaper Association (MUTNA) is to provide a weekly Talking Newspaper called Soundtrack for the visually impaired people of the Mid Ulster area without distinction of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnic origin. Soundtrack is recorded digitally using a Tascam Digital Recorder and consists of two sections. These are the news section which comes from the weekly newspapers, The Mid Ulster Mail, The Mid Ulster Courier and The Tyrone Courier, and a magazine section which consists of articles of local interest, short stories, quizzes, jokes and so on. There are two teams of volunteers reading the news and they read on alternate weeks; the magazine is recorded by volunteers who each contribute one magazine monthly approximately. The following benefits are usually demonstrated by the feedback received. The direct benefits to the beneficiaries included the lessening of feelings of isolation and depression due to their disability and an increased feeling of independence when they can operate their equipment to listen to news, stories etc. hence increasing their engagement with the wider community. The only private benefits have been the skills in reading for our listeners and in operating the digital technology. These are incidental and necessary because of the service we provide. We were able to return in our usual place for recording in Westlands Care Home in Cookstown and have continued to record using Tascam Digital Dictaphones. Our expenditure has been on insurance, ATNNI and Talking Newspaper fees, hire of the room in the Methodist Church Buildings for April, May and June, a donation towards the use of the room in Westlands, AGM expenses and bank fees. At the end of the year the payments made were £590.19 and there was £3357.01 in the Fairhill and District Credit Union. In March the Danske Bank account was closed and the account was transferred to the Fairhill and District Credit Union, Cookstown. The Mid Ulster Talking Newspaper has no assets or liabilities.
The trustees of the Mid Ulster Talking Newspaper have had regard to the Commission’s Public Benefit requirement statutory guidance.
The Mid Ulster Talking Newspaper has a Constitution which sets out its purposes and how it is governed.
The Charity trustees are the members of the Mid Ulster Talking Newspaper committee and are appointed as such. The Mid Ulster Talking Newspaper Association is governed by a
constitution which was revised and formally adopted on 3[rd] November 2020.