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Our Oscar |
The CNTN story
CREWE and Nantwich Talking Newspaper for the Visually Impaired was set up following an initiative from Crewe Rotary Club in 1977. They got together a number of local people who became the nucleus for the organisation as it operates today. Many Rotarians are still among the 100 Volunteers running CNTN. To mark the first 25 years of CNTN, we produced a booklet in which some of the founder members recall the early days and the first quarter century. Unfortunately, the booklet is out of print at the moment. Here are some samples of their story as told in the booklet, "Making the Connection". The title is based on the name of our internal newsletter, Connection. The name is formed from the initial letters of our name - ConNecTioN. It took a crossword addict to come up with that!
"I recall the frenzied fund-raising activity at Rotary to raise the £3,500 that we reckoned would be needed to buy the first set of copying machines. One of the major fund-raisers was the sponsorship of Rotary Club drivers who were loaned a sports car for 24 hours. Each Rotarian who volunteered got to drive the car for a two-hour stint before handing over to the next driver. It was a very successful venture and although the first car had an engine blow-out on the M6 on the way to Blackpool, nobody mentioned the replacement car that was readily made available as it would have been poor publicity for the garage car sales." - the late Ray Gladden MBE, JP, President (at that time Secretary) of CNTN.
"We started practising in August (1977) and between then and November, when the first real edition was produced, we ironed out any possible difficulties. One problem that showed up quickly was that the recording equipment was very sensitive and picked up a bad echo in the studio as each reader spoke. I managed to get a laundry in Whitchurch to let us have some old sheets to hang around the walls to dull the echo. This worked for a while but one day when John Densem was driving past a building which was being demolished he noticed some baffle boards were being thrown away. He quickly persuaded the demolition team to load them in his car and they were duly installed in the studio in place of the sheets." - Graham Beach, former Editor of CNTN.
"In the early years, the copying equipment was not as sophisticated or as reliable as the copiers used today and we often suffered from irritating breakdowns. Consequently it was sometimes past 11 o'clock when I arrived with the tapes at the Weston Road Post Office to find the gate locked. So I had to ring the bell and wait for someone to come down to unlock the gate." - Eric Robinson MBE, TN stalwart and fund-raiser.
"It all worked, with a few hitches and a few modifications, and is still a great success 25 years on. I would like to thank everyone concerned. It was for me an exciting and worthwhile project." - Dr Bill Grundy, founder member and first Chairman.
"This booklet - which is sponsored by the Friends of TN - tells the story of the first 25 years of the Crewe and Nantwich Talking Newspaper for the Visually Impaired. The organisation will be around for many years to come if the Volunteers have anything to do with it. I'm sure they will . . ." - Patrick Grange, former Chairman of CNTN.
lFor a last word on CNTN, click here. |