The Cotswold Listener is the free local talking newspaper for the sight impaired living in Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, and the North Cotswolds.
Our purpose is to help those who are sight impaired, and those who can no long access the written word due to a disability, stay in touch with what is happening locally and to stay aware of the issues that interest them, enabling them to live their lives more independently.
Our service is completely free of charge – Find out more on the Listeners Page.
The Cotswold Listener is produced fifty-one weeks of the year and is sent to listeners on a USB memory stick. The memory sticks are sent by first class post and can be returned to us free of any postage charge. We can also provide free of charge specially designed, easy to use players for people who do not have suitable equipment.
Our recordings are also available on the website (password required), and via the BWBF website and app.
Each week’s edition lasts at least 80 minutes, starting with around 40 minutes of local news, followed by a “magazine” of general interest articles to amuse and entertain. Sometimes the magazine is followed by one-off interviews with special guests.
You can listen to examples of our news and magazine items below:
Our news is recorded by kind permission of the Gloucestershire Echo and the Cotswold Journal.
Established in 1978, we are a registered charity funded entirely by donation. The charity is run by volunteers, led by a group of trustees and an admin team. Meet the team here.
The Cotswold Listener has a number of volunteers who carry out a range of tasks including administration, news selecting, news reading, magazine presenting, sound recording, and copying the recordings to send to the listeners.
Find out about becoming a Volunteer on our Volunteers Page.
The Cotswold Listener
21 Rodney Road
Cheltenham
GL50 1HX
Telephone: 01242 252072 (please be prepared to leave a message)
Email: admin@cotswoldlistener.co.uk
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cotswoldlistener
The photos at the top of this page were made available for use on this website by friend of the charity, Charlotte. They are not to be reproduced elsewhere.