# East Lothian Messenger Talking Newspaper

## Details

- **Country:** Scotland
- **Charity number:** SC020820
- **Known as:** East Lothian Messenger
- **Status:** Active
- **Legal form:** Unincorporated association
- **Registered:** Dec. 7, 1992
- **Register:** https://www.oscr.org.uk/about-charities/search-the-register/charity-details?number=SC020820


## Contact

- **Address:** 1, Redheugh Cottages , Redheugh Farm, Cockburnspath, Berwickshire
- **Postcode:** TD13 5YS



## Activities

**Activities:** 'It carries out activities or services itself'

**Purposes:** 'the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage'

**What the charity does:** We were set up to record items from printed local newspapers so that blind or visually impaired people could listen to the local news even if they could not read a printed version. We have 5 recording teams, each led by a technical controller who uses a laptop attached to a mixer. Each team has an editor who selects the items for recording. We select articles from two local newspapers, record them onto USB sticks and post them out to visually impaired people in East Lothian, as well as a few people who have moved away from the county but are still interested in the area. Other volunteers copy the master stick and post the copies in wallets to our listeners. The service is totally free to the user and we benefit from the Royal Mail concession of free postage for articles for the blind. We buy USB players and give them to the listeners, visiting each new listener to take them a player and show them how to use it.

**Beneficiaries:** 'People with disabilities or health problems'

**Objectives:** ELM is established for charitable purposes only and specifically to provide news, information and other material in a recorded form that can be easily used to relieve the strain of reading for those who are blind or partially sighted or those labouring under temporary or permanent incapacity or disability.





## Geography

- **Main operating location:** East Lothian
- **Geographical spread:** Wider, but within one local authority area



## Finances

| Period end | Income | Expenditure | Assets | Employees | Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 31, 2025 | £625 | £1315 |  -  | 0 |  |
| March 31, 2024 | £3156 | £1393 |  -  | 0 |  |
| March 31, 2023 | £1842 | £3735 |  -  | 0 |  |
| March 31, 2022 | £497 | £1901 |  -  | 0 |  |
| March 31, 2021 | £1220 | £914 |  -  | 0 |  |