Latest Activities & Events

Free, lifelong support for vision-impaired ex-Service personnel

Learning to adjust to life with sight loss can be extremely difficult. Blind Veterans UK provides vital and free training, rehabilitation, equipment and emotional support for blind and vision-impaired veterans, no matter when they served, or whether they lost their sight due to accident, age-related illness or in service.

Each veteran is supported with their particular needs to enable them to discover life beyond sight loss and live independently. This could be anything from rehabilitation, specialist equipment to help them make a cup of tea, bringing veterans together at its social events or on holidays to respite weeks at one of Blind Veterans UK’s centres in Brighton and Llandudno.

Blind Veterans UK currently supports 114 veterans in Suffolk but know there are many more. The No One Alone campaign is reaching out to the estimated more than 700 vision-impaired ex-Service men and women in the county who could be eligible for support but don’t currently realise it.  A similar situation exists in Norfolk. Most of these veterans completed their service many years ago, and have since lost their sight due to conditions such as macular degeneration or glaucoma.

Lara King, No One Alone Campaign Manager, said: “We want to promote the lifelong support offered for those who have served our country and for those who care for them. We strongly encourage families to ask the vision-impaired person if he or she ever served in the Armed Forces, including National Service.  If so they can apply for our support.”

If you, or someone you know, served in the Armed Forces, including National Service, and is now battling severe sight loss, find out how Blind  Veterans UK could help by calling 0800 389 7979 or visiting www.blindveterans.org.uk

 

Thrilling Final at Annual 3-Way Quiz

 

Three Rivers Talking Newspaper hosted the local talking newspaper quiz night on Monday, 20 March at Bungay Golf Club. Having won the quiz for the last few years against their rivals Sound East and Grapevine, the Three Rivers teams did really well until the very end, drawing in first place until after three tie-break questions they were finally defeated by a Grapevine team with a cunningly tricky question posed by 3RTN chairman Vaughan O’Shea – how many miles is it from John O’Groats to Lands End?

The evening saw every table full for the quiz, with 21 teams taking part. Bungay Golf Club prepared a delicious buffet supper and Vaughan entertained everyone with his unique style of holding the raffle at break-neck speed allowing no one to return a prize if they won more than once! Special thanks to Kaye and Helen who were the quizmasters, Sally for organizing the raffle and huge congratulations to the winning team from Grapevine, The Nomads. Runners-up The K9 Crew took home the David Wuyts trophy for the highest scoring Three Rivers team.  The money raised will be shared between the three talking newspaper groups represented at the quiz.

 

Twenty-fifth Anniversary Celebrations

On Saturday 18 June, Three Rivers Talking Newspaper celebrated its 25th  anniversary with a strawberry tea party, held in Bungay Community Centre.

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Around 60 listeners, volunteers and friends joined in the celebrations and it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends, old and new, over a glass of fizz or fruit punch, before settling down to strawberry teas.   Copies of the History of Three Rivers Talking Newspaper (compiled for the 21st anniversary) along with the Three Rivers Scrapbook were available for all to browse.

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And, should there be a lull in the conversation (a most unlikely situation!), volunteer reader Terry had devised a fun quiz, which proved very popular, especially with some of our more competitive quiz aficionados!

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Chairman, Vaughan Shea, thanked everyone for their involvement, adding that he was looking forward to the next 25 years!

He also took the opportunity to say a special thank-you to two outgoing volunteers, and awarded them with long service certificates.   Ray Baker was one of the first Readers at Three Rivers and Anne Frith has represented listeners on the committee ever since it began, back in June 1991.

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If any of our listeners or volunteers missed our happy event, there will be a chance to listen to a full account of the afternoon’s proceedings from editor, Zane, in the next edition of our quarterly magazine Valley Sound.

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Should We Call Them Magpies?

Our SuperTeam Zane, John, Norman & Anne
Our SuperTeam Zane, John, Norman & Anne

At the 2016 annual 3-way quiz, hosted this year by Sound East in Lowestoft, Three Rivers TN once again galloped home with the silver.   Yes, our brainy team comprising Zane, Anne, John and Norman proved they’re unbeatable and looked deservedly smug as they were presented with the winning trophy.   In addition, chairman, Vaughan Shea, presented them with the David Wuyts Trophy, awarded to the highest scoring Three Rivers TN team.

Teams fr Sound East, Grapevine & 3Rivers
Teams fr Sound East, Grapevine & 3Rivers

This year, four teams from Three Rivers TN entered the competition and all of them performed well in the rankings but our superteam ruled the evening!

Next year, it will be our turn to host the 3-way quiz so that challenge now is to ensure that the silver remains “at home”!

Host Rodney of Sound East
Host Rodney of Sound East

 

Long Service Awards

At our AGM held in February 2015, the Committee of Three Rivers Talking Newspaper (3RTN) recognised the efforts of four volunteers who have devoted countless hours to our charity since its foundation twenty four years ago.

Special thanks were given to former Treasurer, Joan Wuyts, who co-founded 3RTN along with her late husband and Bungay stalwart, David Wuyts.  Also honoured were Pete and Pam Martin, and Rita Clarke.    All four were presented with framed long-service certificates and were personally thanked by the Chairman, Helen Kirby.  “We are much indebted to our four colleagues for their years of dedication in helping to prepare, record and distribute our talking newspaper.  Joan has been involved with Three Rivers right from the outset and, aside from her role as Treasurer, carried out several other duties and was a constant support to her late husband and our former President, David”, she said.  “Similarly, Rita was our publicity officer and later served as Chairman, while Peter and his wife Pam will always be remembered for the wonderful fundraising lunches they held at their home.  All four have been an inspiration to those of us following in their footsteps.”