We are fortunate in having a number of clubs, schools, companies and organisations support the Talking Book Service. This includes Rotary Clubs, Inner Wheel Clubs and companies who have adopted us as their Charity of the Year.
Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers
RNIB was nominated by The Master, Richard Brewster, of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers as their 2010 Charity of the Year. The Company worked tremendously hard to raise significant funds for the Talking Book Service, with the aim of producing an incredible 100 new books.
On 21 June this year a spectacular Midsummer Night's Dream Gala Dinner was held to help raise funds for the Service. Guest speakers at the event were David Blunkett and Joanna Trollope - both strong supporters of Talking Books. A wonderful evening was enjoyed by all attending this sell out dinner.
The fundraising initiative was so successful that it raised more than £60,000 which means we can produce 120 new Talking Book titles to be added to our library.
Our thanks go to all the members of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers for their outstanding support.
Rotary International
Thank you to the many clubs of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, who have offered us such fantastic support over the last year.
Working closely with their communities, Rotarians all over the UK and Ireland have been raising awareness of the RNIB Talking Book Service for those who might benefit from it. They have also been hosting events - from hog roasts to supermarket bag packs - to support and sponsor the creation of many brand new Talking Books.
Inner Wheel Clubs
In 2008, The Association of Inner Wheel clubs in Great Britain and Ireland adopted the RNIB Talking Book Service as their Charity of the Year.
Thanks to the exciting and innovative fundraising from the Inner Wheel clubs, twenty nine brand new books have been added to the RNIB Talking Book library. Also, a number of clubs have gone on to sponsor their own book.
As well as creating new books, the money raised by Inner Wheel, will make a considerable difference to the service in other ways too. It can pay for new Talking Book Players, or pay the subscription for approximately 560 customers for a year.
The fantastic job Inner Wheel have done in terms of raising awareness for the service is invaluable. Thanks to their work, we hope many more people will now be aware of the RNIB Talking Book Service, and perhaps rediscover the joy of reading that they thought they had lost forever.
Worshipful Company of Butchers
This organisation adopted the Talking Book Service as their Charity of the Year for 2008. We worked together and helped with the annual dinner and other events. We arranged for Jennie Bond to be their guest speaker and the whole year was a great success, raising £15,000 for the Talking Book Service
World Conker Championships
This typically British annual event is held in Polebrook, near Oundle, Peterborough on the second Sunday of October. The World Conker Championships is a supporter of the Talking Book Service.
The event opens at 10.00am and competitors must register before the day. There are lots of stalls, food, crafts and games for all the family to enjoy.
ArmadaCon
ArmadaCon is the South West's longest running three-day Sci-Fi and Fantasy Multi-Media Convention.
Every year ArmadaCon raises funds to sponsor a Talking Book in support of people with sight loss. They do this as they wish to enable people of all abilities to share their love of the science fiction and fantasy genre.