Carnival royals with Three Rivers volunteersHuge thanks to all our volunteers, listeners, guests and members of the public who attended our recent AGM, followed by our traditional tea party. Both events were held on Saturday, 20 June at Bungay Community Centre, where we also undertake our weekly recordings.
During the AGM, Chairman Tony thanks everyone involved and noted that the coming year is both an exciting and a challenging one for Three Rivers Talking News as we extend our service beyond the visually impaired community to include anyone who experiences a barrier when using printed material. This could be for a variety of reasons e.g. limited mobility following a stroke can make it difficult to hold a newspaper and/or turn the pages. So, during the coming year, our focus will be on creating new links with local support groups in order to help create a community without barriers.
Tony also spoke about the recent improvements we have made to the content of our weekly recordings. In the past, our weekly recordings relied heavily on The Beccles & Bungay Journal and while this continues to form a very important part of our local news, we now also include an extensive “What’s On” listing for our area along with special features on topics such as farming/rural matters, sport, health and local history/stories. Our quarterly Magazine continues to include interviews with local people, gardening tips, stories, poetry and much more.
As we are still at the early stages of delivering this new weekly content, we very much welcome listener feedback. Just get in touch with our Listener Liaison Officer, Helen, on 0778 999 4906 or by email on listeners3rtn@gmail.com
Sadly, a number of our volunteers are standing down, including our wonderful Secretary, Cecilia, who has helped steer our ship over the past 3 years. Chairman Tony presented Cecilia with a bouquet of flowers as a token of our appreciation of all her hard work. A bouquet was also presented to Janet, our Treasurer, who keeps a beady eye on all things financial and ensures our documentation is kept up to date on the Charities Commission website.
Following the AGM, the focus was on tea, some yummy sandwiches and cakes and, of course, on chat! We were delighted to be joined by some of our listeners and volunteers and also by representatives of some of the local organisations with whom we are in regular contact, including Suffolk Sight, Beccles Town Council, Bungay Town Council and The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes.
We were also honoured to be joined this year by royalty, no less! Yes, by the Beccles Carnival Queen, Laura Rudd, along with young Prince Neddy who kindly nominated Three Rivers TN as his chosen charity. Many thanks to both royals and best wishes for a successful and memorable reign.
