King's Award for Sheffield Talking News On the King’s birthday, it was announced that a Sheffield charity has been awarded the prestigious Kings Award for Voluntary Service.  This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE.

Sheffield Talking News, which has been serving the visually impaired community in Sheffield since 1988 and is run entirely by volunteers, provides people who are unable to read a newspaper or similar because of disability with a weekly spoken digest of local news. Not only does it provide listeners with a summary of local news that has been selected by its editors, it also provides local and national information relevant to visually impaired people, magazine items, and features on people and things of interest in Sheffield and the surroundings. All of this is provided by a dedicated team of editors, readers, technicians and others who generously volunteer their skills and whose efforts have been recognised with this award.

Receiving the Kings Award at this time is particularly fitting because the achievement can be directly attributed to the recently deceased chair, Mary Callaghan. Mary served the charity tirelessly for many years and built it to its current position.  The reward will be a lasting tribute to her long and dedicated service. Mary’s departure has left a gaping hole within Shefield Talking News and the charity is seeking someone equally dedicated who can take it on to further success.

Sheffield Talking News is one of 262 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. Their work, along with others from across the UK, reminds us of all the ways fantastic volunteers are contributing to their local communities and working to make life better for those around them.

More information on Sheffield Talking news is available at www.sheffieldtalkingnews.org.uk