Our History.

The Rayleigh & District Talking Newspaper was set up in 1979 and registered as Charity No. 278578. The impetus for its establishment came from Rayleigh Lions, who also provided the funds for the initial purchase of equipment. In January 1980 our first recordings were made and distributed.

It became apparent in 1998 that we should change our name to better reflect the areas where our listeners lived. The Rayleigh & Rochford TN was born.

Towards the end of the 1990s it was clear that a neighbouring TN, Castle Point, was about to close because (despite lots of press coverage) no volunteers could be found to run it.

So ………… we took it under our wing and, in January 2001, we became The Rayleigh, Rochford & Castle Point TN for the Blind or RRCPTN.

For some years, recording sessions were held in a local Old People’s Home. In 1988 Rayleigh public library was used and in 1992 (with permission granted by Rochford District Council) in Rayleigh Civic Centre.

In 1998, however, we moved into our own studio at St Luke’s Place, Rochford (the site of the old hospital) where we have been ever since.

Details of our teams can be found on the ‘What we do’ page.