Volunteers
Lothiansound is like a lifebelt, thrown weekly to over 600 Listeners who are unable to read the local papers. While a Talking Newspaper does not save lives, the Volunteers constantly strive to inform, entertain and cheer, 90 minutes a week. In order to achieve this aim, each equally important sector of the lifebelt relies on the next. Success is dependant on the hard work and commitment of the crew, without whom we are sunk!
Working away quietly in the background, the Admin team undertake these necessary but unseen tasks:
Add new
Listeners and deal with cancellations
Amend Listener address records
Reply to, or act upon, messages left on the answerphone
Order tapes, labels, wallets etc
Chair
Vice-Chair
Treasurer
Secretary
Listener Representative
House Convenor
2 - 4 Members, at least one with Technical knowledge
The Committee co-ordinates the work of the volunteers, and is responsible for:
Accounts
Purchase and Repair of Equipment
Fundraising
Training
Publicity
Quality control
House-keeping
There are five Reading Teams, each consisting of a Teamleader, Article Editor, four Readers and a Recordist/Sound Editor. There are, of course, reserves who cover for illness and holidays. The Teamleader introduces and closes the recording and generally acts as co-ordinator. The Article Editor cuts out items of local news from the newspaper and attaches them to stronger, less noisy paper. Needless to say, the Recordist records the Readers' every word! Each recording begins and ends with a cheery little tune, 'Waiata Poi', played by James Galway. After the Readers are introduced they read the news, sometimes describing pictures. The Readers don't see the articles until they arrive at the studio to record so there's no time to practise. This fact, coupled with the occasional misprint, means that even an experienced Reader can be caught out at times! At the end of the session, the Sound Editor goes to work on the digital sound file, cuts out mistakes and noises where possible and makes a master CD copy and a master tape copy ready for the Copiers.
The Copiers don’t just copy! Once the master tape is in place, the fast-copying machines make up to thirty copies at one time, copying both sides of the tape simultaneously. Incredibly, this process only takes five minutes. The master CD is placed in a tower of CD writers and several copies are made at one time. Random tapes and CDs are then tested to make sure that the copying has been done correctly. Once this has been checked, the tapes and CDs are put into the Listeners’ wallets. The wallet labels are scanned so that the Listener computer records are updated. The sacks of wallets are then taken to the local Delivery Office on their first step of the journey to the Listeners.
Each Listener has an identity number and two differently coloured padded, PVC wallets, used alternatively. The wallet label is housed in a plastic sleeve and has the Listener’s address on one side and Lothiansound’s on the other. When the wallets are returned to the studio, they are emptied, address labels are turned, tapes are checked, rewound and cleaned then packed into boxes ready for the Tape Copiers. Returned CDs are recycled.
If you would like to become a Volunteer with Lothiansound, please e-mail: info@lothiansound.org.uk or phone: 0131 661 2850.