29/07/2026
TTN held its AGM on 13 July, and although minutes are circulated, I thought interested stakeholders might like to read my report from first year back as Chair:
"Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge Anne Galbraith's role in chairing TTN since Dave Clegg had to step down through Ill health. I agreed to step back in as Chair towards the end of 2025 because I believe that TTN has to adapt and evolve to survive in the face of changing technology, demographics, journalism standards and listening habits.
What has become very clear in the past few months is that there are people who should know about our service but don't, and that there are conditions other than visual impairment for which a Talking Newspaper (and associated products) could be very valuable and appreciated.
Until recently, our reliance on the free Royal Mail delivery service for the visually impaired limited our reach, but with streaming now possible from the TTN website thanks to the hard work of Alan Ross, that constraint has now been removed.
Accordingly, we've put a lot of effort this year into outreach, attending events in Hexham, Newcastle, Corbridge and Haltwhistle, and building some promising bridges with representatives of other community organisations. I'd like to thank Jane Kevan, Loraine Oliver, Sue Loader, Alan Ross and Mike Spencer for helping out on our stand. This outreach had the unintended benefit of making us realise that our 'Tynedale Talking' magazine was erroneously seen by those living outside Tynedale as irrelevant to them: a couple of bouts of wordsmithing ensued between Jane Kevan and myself, resulting in the decision to rename the magazine 'Tyne to Tweed Talking Magazine ' (‘T2TTM’ for short) in recognition of both our increased geographic reach and drive for new listeners. And that name change opens the door to making the magazine an even more important of our stable as a vehicle for health and welfare messaging across the region.
But one lesson learned is that outreach can't be 'fire and forget' - for example, there is a constant 'churn' of staff and residents of care homes, so a major piece of work started in this Reporting Year, for which Mike Spencer has taken the lead, involves mapping what we consider to be 'Tynedale', listing the various places in which we might want to see TTN awareness promoted, and codifying that in a way that avoids us having to reinvent the wheel, survives changes of TTN personnel and gives us a road map for outreach against which we can allocate resources.
We need funds to keep operating, and I'd like to thank Fay Hieatt for stepping into the fundraising role. One of her first tasks was to review, with Anne, the cost/benefit of our annual Hexham Flag Day: the decision was taken that we should instead consider less-resource intensive methods of fundraising. Anne Galbraith's letter to Parish Councils continued to bear fruit, and coffers were further replenished by a very successful collection at Hexham Racecourse, led by Mike Spencer aided by Loraine Oliver and Bridget and Mike Broadhurst.
I'm very pleased to report that we have reached the final sift for potential award of a Kings Award for Voluntary Service, which is an achievement in itself. We find out on or around the King's Birthday in November, if we've been awarded it, and I'd like to thank Alan Ross for coming with me to be 'grilled' by two Deputy Lieutenants, and Anne Galbraith and Jane Kevan for working with me on a 'what if' plan should be get the nod. On that note, I hope that all current and past TTN volunteers will pencil the afternoon of Sun 31 Jan 2027 in their diaries: if we don't get it, nothing lost, but would be a shame for people not to be able to attend through diary conflicts that this early notice hopes to avoid.
Finally, King's Award or no King's Award, TTN only functions through the good offices and dedication of its reading teams and especially the Team Leaders, who so often have to problem solve 'on the hoof' to make it all come together, so a sincere ‘thank you’ from the Chair to all who keep the TTN show in the road, to those who do the home visits and keep the admin and data protection in order, and to Loraine Oliver and Mike Broadhurst for their continued work as Secretary and Treasurer respectively, and the responsibilty they have as Officers."
Tony Newton, TTN Chair
13 July 2026
