About us
Five Valley Sounds
Five Valley Sounds is a registered charity (No: 900462) that has been making recordings of The Stroud News and Journal since 1982.
Free service
Our service is entirely free. All our volunteers are unpaid and we rely solely on donations for our funding.
Free postage
Recordings are delivered to our listeners and returned by the Royal Mail free of charge.
1. Who can receive recordings?
Anyone who is registered blind or partially-sighted. Registering with your local council can make it easier to get support from social services and to receive concessions and benefits. Your doctor or optician can advise you.
2. How do I receive recordings?
Contact our Secretary on 01453 832 034. You may apply in person or on behalf of a friend or relative.
3. What information do you need?
We need listeners’ names, addresses and contact telephone numbers. We hold all information in the strictest confidence and do not divulge it to anyone outside Five Valley Sounds.
4. What happens next?
You’ll receive a recording of the current week’s news in a special plastic pouch in the post. If you do not have a USB player, we can arrange to lend you one.
5. Contact person
You will also be given the contact details of one of our volunteers who will contact you to make sure that you have all the information and equipment you need to play the USB recording.
This is the person you should contact if you have any further difficulities or problems with our recordings.
6. How do I return the pouch?
When you have had the pouch for a week, you will receive another pouch with the next recording in it. Please return the first USB stick and pouch as soon as the second pouch arrives.
Place the USB stick inside, slip the address label out of the clear plastic pocket on the side of the pouch, turn the label over and put the pouch in any postbox.
Please do not hand the pouch over the counter at a post office as they will stick labels on it! Just pop it straight in the postbox.
The Royal Mail will return the pouch to us free of charge. When we receive your pouch, we will put the next week’s recording into it and return it to you.
7. Should I return the USB stick?
YES PLEASE! We need the stick again to record on, so please return it in the pouch as soon as you've received the second pouch.