BLIND people all over Lancashire are being kept in touch with local news - thanks to the Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen.

We have won a £6,650 grant from the Gannett Foundation for the Galloway's Society for the Blind.

The massive cash boost will ensure that the Society's talking newspapers and audio books services - which go out to more than 6,000 people across the county - can continue.

Galloway's development worker Tony Kimpton says: "This is tremendous news it really feels like Christmas has come early."

The Gannett Foundation is a charitable trust administered by the Gannett Corporation, owners of the Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen.

It gives grants to organisations all over the country in the spring and autumn each year - the latest round of cash gifts saw £257,997 shared by 53 groups from an original list of 311 applications..

Galloway's Society for the Blind provides support to some 6,500 visually impaired people across Lancashire, including its extensive audio tape service of talking books and newspapers available free to local blind people.

The talking book catalogue contains 1605 titles, while 28 newspapers, magazine and church publications - including the Citizen - are recorded on a weekly basis to ensure that listeners are kept up to date with news and current affairs.

Each week the Society produces 3,500 tapes and CDs.

Mr Kimpton says: "An interesting statistic is that if you were to try to listen to all the tapes recorded, it would take 19 years to get through them."

The money from the Gannett foundation will be used to replace all Galloway's tapes, wallets and address labels over the course of the next 12 months.

Mr Kimpton says: "There are no words to express our gratitude at this most generous grant. It is tremendous news for Galloway's and for blind and visually impaired people all over Lancashire."