FOR the past 23 years, Mrs Jean Spencer has been the voice of her local paper.

Together with colleague Doreen Williams she established Bury Pipeline during her work for social services to give the blind and partially-sighted in the borough a chance to catch up on their local news. The initiative was part of a national project being set up at the time.

From a listenership of just 38, Bury Pipeline, a registered charity, now has 350 people on its mailing list who look forward to receiving a free 60-minute tape with the weekly news from the Bury Times, Radcliffe Times and the Prestwich and Whitefield Guide every week.

But the voluntary organisation, based at the Seedfield Resource Centre in Bury, desperately needs more committee members and fund-raisers to help run the service. The organisation receives no funding from the local authority.

Mrs Spencer, chairman of Bury Pipeline, said: "This is a very important service to people who are blind or partially-sighted. It is the only chance they get to hear local news. "Some of the people on our mailing list have moved away from Bury and now live in places like Somerset and Grimbsy but still like to know what is going on here.

"The service also helps increase the listeners' independence by not making them rely on others to read the paper to them."

Bury Pipeline, funded entirely by donations, has a total of ten committee members and volunteers on board, many of whom have been with the organisation since it first started. Some of the members have passed away and others are now in their 80s.

"The team we have are very dedicated, but we do need more people to volunteer no more than three hours a month," said Mrs Spencer.

"Bury Pipeline is making this appeal now for volunteers before we reach absolute crisis point and we are forced to fold. Presently we can still function and provide a full service but the work is falling on fewer shoulders which means people are having to do more," she explained.

The work of Bury Pipeline begins every Thursday evening. A team of eight volunteers, two editors, two technicians and four readers, use the papers in the Bury Times Group.

On Friday morning two further volunteers copy the hour-long tapes recorded the previous evening.

The tapes are then taken to the post office sorting and distribution depot in Wellington Street, Bury, where they are posted free of charge.

A register is kept of all persons receiving the tapes and during the following week, two further volunteers record all the tapes returned before another cassette can be issued.

Mrs Spencer concluded: "It is very rewarding helping Bury Pipeline, especially when we have feedback from our readers on how much they appreciate the service.

"At the same time it allows us to keep in touch with members of the community through the register. And if for some reason a tape is not returned it gives us a chance to give the person a call to ensure that they are okay."

Anyone who can help Bury Pipeline carry on its work should contact 01706 824 401.