Help tackle loneliness and isolation this Christmas by supporting Calibre Audio through the Big Give

Tuesday 28 November, 2023National audiobook charity, Calibre Audio, is encouraging local people to give double the joy of reading to those who struggle with the printed word by supporting its Big Give Christmas Challenge.

Between 12 noon on 28th November and 12 noon on 5th December 2023, the charity will be offering the chance for people to make twice the difference through a donation which will then be doubled from its Big Give match funding pot.

Every donation will help the charity support thousands of people across the UK who feel isolated and cut off from the world as a result of sight loss or a physical or cognitive condition that prevents them from reading books.

Sue Canderton, Director of Philanthropy at Calibre Audio explains further:

“We support thousands of people every year like Kathie who features in our Big Give social media campaign. Kathie has age-related macular degeneration, and her sight loss is now so significant that reading is virtually impossible. As a keen reader, this has had a devastating impact on her life. The campaign focuses on how audiobooks have given her back the joy of reading and how important this is to thousands of people like her who live alone right across the UK.”

In the film, Kathie says:

“Even as a kid I was an avid reader. The fact that I may not be able to read frightened me. Because I thought if I can't read, that’s it.”

“With Calibre, if my sight gets worse I know I can still listen to a book. Reading a book seems a very simple thing to do, but when your eyesight is failing, you can feel very bleak and even lonely at times. Having a good audiobook to read definitely lifts your spirits, especially at Christmas time.”

The Big Give Christmas Challenge is an annual event which partners charities with organisations prepared to become champions who, in combination with some of the charity’s own supporters, provide a match funding pot. Calibre Audio is very grateful to have support from The Reed Foundation as a champion and from private pledgers to provide £4,631.50 in match funding. The charity is now encouraging members of the public and bookworms everywhere to make a donation to give back the joy of reading to its members, safe in the knowledge that the donation will be matched pound for pound through the initiative.

Sue added,

“Christmas is traditionally a popular time for giving books as gifts and the Big Give Christmas Challenge offers the chance to do this through audiobooks for those who can’t read a printed book. For example, a donation of £7 will be doubled to £14 which will cover the cost of two month’s membership for a print-disabled person, allowing them to borrow multiple books, connecting them to the world and reducing loneliness and isolation. Can you help us make double the difference?”

To find out more about Calibre Audio’s Big Give Christmas Challenge and to donate to help them reach their £9,263 target, please go to https://ca-li.org.uk/BigGive23. The Challenge begins at 12 noon on 28th
November and between then and 12 noon on 5th November, all donations made on the Calibre page on the Big Give website will be doubled for as long as the match funding pot lasts.

About Calibre Audio

Calibre Audio is a charity offering an audiobook lending service to adults and children in the UK who struggle to read print as a result of conditions such as visual impairment, dyslexia, autism, ADHD, stroke, brain injury or other physical or neurological conditions that prevent holding a book.

Members can receive their audiobooks free on memory sticks through the post or they can stream and download them via the charity’s digital services for a heavily subsidised charge of £3 per month or £30 per year. Overseas members with print disabilities are also able to access the digital service for a small charge. Membership is free for under 18s and those in full time education.

For further information about Calibre Audio or to sign up, please go to www.calibreaudio.org.uk.

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