Volunteers
Page 6
Tapping into TIS
Imagine being able to make a cup of tea, put your feet up, pick up the phone and listen to information from the local newspaper.
Volunteers are helping to make this a reality for members through the RNZFB's telephone information service (TIS) which, among other things, provides information from national and local newspapers via the telephone.
Members all over the country are able to access coverage of national newspapers, and in some areas local newspapers are also being recorded. Members in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Oamaru, Gore, Balclutha and Invercargill are able to hear information recorded daily from their local newspapers.
The TIS programme has the potential to make a big difference to the lives of Foundation members. Once comfortable using the various TIS options, members can move on to using their telephones for other tasks like telephone banking and bill paying.
The kind of information recorded by volunteers onto TIS includes family notices, news reports, community news of interest, magazine articles, letters to the editor and editorials.
In some areas shopping specials are also recorded - useful for members whose children tell them that "treats" are on special, because now they can find out if that's true!
Becoming a TIS volunteer
Recording onto the TIS system is proving very popular as a volunteer activity. It appeals to many people who would otherwise not be able to fit volunteer work into their day or who can't get to a venue to do their volunteer work.
The team of Foundation volunteers who read and record the information on the TIS programme is made up of mothers, students, workers and retired people. Many of these volunteers find it fits in well around other activities as the information can be read and recorded from a home phone.
Mark Choveaux co-ordinates the forty-odd volunteers who read on the TIS programme in the Otago region.
"Everybody reads from home now," he says. "TIS reading is so accessible for everybody, our oldest reader is 85 years old, and the youngest, a 17 year old high school student."
If you are interested in volunteering your time to read news and information for TIS, phone 0800 24 33 33.