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  • DAWN

    Didcot, Abingdon & Wantage Talking Newspaper

    On any one Wednesday evening the tasks are:

    Editor/Presenter (who comes to the session having spent a few hours in advance, clipping selected news items from the local newspapers),

    four Readers (where possible a mix of male and female voices),

    Tech 1 (who operates the recording equipment)

    Tech 2 (who operates the copying equipment)

    Eraser (who erases the memory sticks returned by recipients for re-use)

    Three Admin people (who unpack the returned memory sticks - noting which recipients sent them and any enclosed correspondence - and who prepare a set of postal pouches to receive the outgoing memory sticks. They also do a few other tasks as required). Admin 1 in particular prepares items for the "Notice Board" script, which the Presenter reads at the beginning of side 2 of the tape. The Notice Board includes local marriages and deaths, birthday greetings to any recipients with birthdays in the coming week, and acknowledgements to any recipients who have enclosed letters or cheques with their returned memory sticks. Admin 1 and 2 stay after the recording is finished and pack the copied memory sticks into the prepared pouches, and sort them into four mailbags according to the postcode.

    In Charge (a committee member - responsible for problem solving, safety and security).

    Some "multitasking" is possible. For example, a reader, having finished reading, may go on to do the copying, etc. So the actual number of volunteers needed in one evening is typically ten.

    The Wenesday evening routine goes as follows:

    18:30 First arrivals open the AWRC and arrange the furniture and equipment to give a recording "studio" and an administration area;

    19:00 Start recording Part 1 (News items)

    ~19:40 Start recording Part 2 (Notice Board, Thought for the Week, and more News items);

    ~20:15 End of recording. Readers, Tech 1 and Admin 3 can go home.

    ~21:30 Copying and packing complete, Furniture put back where it was, and post delivered.