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>>[1930's voice] The *** of Roger Ackroyd,
by Agatha Christie.
Read by Laidman Browne.
>>The first talking books were recorded after the First World War
for soldiers who lost their sight in battle.
Today almost 2 million people are living with
sight loss in the UK.
>>When you lose your sight
you really feel like you’ve lost everything.
I will be completely honest with you it's 7 years
I'm not used to it
and I'm never ever going to be used to it.
And anybody who says they are I don’t understand how,
and if you do know how please get in touch with me because I don’t.
>>I never went back to work and I never drove a car again.
And my life just changed completely from doing all this useful stuff
to sitting at home and in shock really.
>>I still have never once seen my daughter properly.
I'm not able to have any more children
because my brain tumour grew with progesterone.
So she's my only child and I've never
been able to see her properly.
[music]
>>Listening to a talking book is something normal
you can enjoy without having to rely on anyone else
and that feeling of independence is so important.
>>It's something that I would never have thought about
if I didn't have a visually impaired child.
>>Coz I can't see the picture I can listen.
He calls him *** head, wooden head.
Pinocchio.
>>I want him, and he should have, the same independence
as everybody else. It really does capture him.
[laughter]
>>When you lose your sight you don’t lose your imagination.
And what's great about books is they sort of
work directly on the imagination.
>>Unfortunately less than 5 per cent of books
are available to blind or partially sighted people.
>>And that is why it is essential that RNIB
continues to add books to its collection.
It's just not fair that blind and partially sighted people
can't read the latest bestseller.
>>But it doesn’t come cheap.
It costs the RNIB four million pounds a year
to run the Talking Book service, so is it really worth it?
>>It's so much part of my life now
that I don’t know how it would have been without it.
>>Thanks to the Talking Book service
you might not be able to open a book and read it
but you're going to be able to sit there and listen to it.
And it just… it makes…it doesn’t fix it, but it makes it easier.
>>[Ian Hislop] It's a terrific service
and having seen first hand how much pleasure it can give to someone
I just multiplied that by all the other magazines
and all the other books that are on there and you think
this is an amazing job.
>>The more you're able to help the more books can be produced,
and the more people like myself can get the benefit
and the enjoyment that that can bring
and it can really make a difference to our lives.
>>It is one of those problems that
throwing money at it would help.
>>Please try and help raise money
for what is a totally brilliant service.
Without it mine and many other lives
would be totally, totally devastated.
>>Talking books wouldn’t exist without your help.
>>The help and the relief they give people
that are visually impaired and blind is priceless.
>>39,000 people already know
how amazing the Talking Book service can be,
but that is just a fraction of the people who could benefit.
We need your support to help us reach them all.
>>Please can we have money,
more money to give other children DAISY players and Talking Books.