Audiobooks from the Listening Books charity - free subscriptions available

HarrietD

Staff Member
Staff member
Apr 29, 2014
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0
London
The national audiobook charity, Listening Books, provide an audiobook library service to 36,000 adults and children who struggle to read or hold printed books due to an illness, disability or learning difficulties.

They're currently offering free subscriptions for people living with dementia and their carers and relatives. Take a look below for more information:

Listening Books is passionate about making books accessible to everyone and for many of our members, our audiobooks not only provide a link to the wonderful world of literature but can be a relief from pain or anxiety, lifting them out of what are often challenging circumstances. We currently have funding to offer free membership places to people who would find their usual membership fees (which range from £20 to £45 a year) a barrier to joining the service. These places are open to anybody with a print impairment.

The service caters for children and adults with a wide variety of print impairments including those with Alzheimer’s, as well as those with sight problems, those who struggle to hold a book or turn its pages due to frailty or manual dexterity problems and those who struggle to concentrate or recall what they have read due to an illness such as depression. Listening Books are happy to offer free places to people with dementia, as well as any eligible carers or family members.

We have over 7,000 titles covering a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction to cater for varying tastes, ranging from classics, crime and biographies to contemporary novels, plays and travel.

Titles are available to borrow on MP3 CD sent though the post, download or stream online.

You can read more about the charity and browse their library here: www.listening-books.org.uk

Please let us know if you have any questions :)

Best wishes,

Dementia Support Forum Team
 
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nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,081
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Bury
The site is still there, it offers limited free membership to people who find it 'difficult to pay the membership fee' - no mention of dementia.
 

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oilovlam

Registered User
Aug 2, 2015
386
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South East
Shame, because there is nothing better than an audio book for taking you to another world.

Some have suggested singing for the brain....mum is too far gone for that, in fact she gets upset because I think she feels left out.

Some have suggested listening to the radio....which is OK but I need the television. A good audio book could be the answer. But they aint cheap. I used to get them from the library but I'm not sure if that's an option in the local village library.
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,081
0
Bury
If you plod on along the 'find it difficult to pay' route you end up at a screen asking for confirmation of reading difficulty due to illness or disability.
 

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Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
0
Near Southampton
Shame, because there is nothing better than an audio book for taking you to another world.

Some have suggested singing for the brain....mum is too far gone for that, in fact she gets upset because I think she feels left out.

Some have suggested listening to the radio....which is OK but I need the television. A good audio book could be the answer. But they aint cheap. I used to get them from the library but I'm not sure if that's an option in the local village library.

I only have a very small branch of the County library here too but I download my audiobooks from the main County library website using the Overdrive facility.
The audiobooks disappear after 1 or 2 weeks - your choice - if you download them directly to your iPod or MP3 player but if you download them to a computer instead and then transfer them, you keep them for as long as you want to.
 

Rich PCA Carer

Registered User
Aug 31, 2015
107
0
North Gloucestershire, UK
Shame, because there is nothing better than an audio book for taking you to another world.

Some have suggested singing for the brain....mum is too far gone for that, in fact she gets upset because I think she feels left out.

Some have suggested listening to the radio....which is OK but I need the television. A good audio book could be the answer. But they aint cheap. I used to get them from the library but I'm not sure if that's an option in the local village library.

Depending on where you live you may be able to access audio books from your library service either online or via the post. The service is available in Gloucestershire, but to be honest, the range of books is quite limited. You could try asking at your local library or searching on the internet for services provided by your county library service. The other alternative which costs money is an online streaming and download service. We have an Amazon Echo which my wife can still use, so we plan to try a service which is compatible with that.
 

Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
0
Near Southampton
Depending on where you live you may be able to access audio books from your library service either online or via the post. The service is available in Gloucestershire, but to be honest, the range of books is quite limited. You could try asking at your local library or searching on the internet for services provided by your county library service. The other alternative which costs money is an online streaming and download service. We have an Amazon Echo which my wife can still use, so we plan to try a service which is compatible with that.
Our's is pretty good and for free is certainly worth trying.
 

HarrietD

Staff Member
Staff member
Apr 29, 2014
9,649
0
London
Hi all,

Thanks for your comments about this. Listening Books have gotten in touch with us to say that they still have free memberships available if anyone is interested.

In their own words, 'our service is for anyone who struggles to read due to an illness, disability, or learning or mental health difficulty. Our free memberships are for anyone that would struggle to pay our subsidised membership fee, which starts at £20 per year.'

If anyone wants to become a member of Listening Books, you can join online through their website here or you can contact the library directly on 0207 234 0522 to join by phone.

Or if you prefer, you can email info@listening-books.org.uk and they can send out a postal application form.

Hope this helps :)
 

tigha

New member
Nov 27, 2017
1
0
not being funny, but how can people with alziemers read books,My mum who loved reading, had to stop about 12y ago as she couldnt remember what she had just read
 

Amethyst59

Registered User
Jul 3, 2017
5,776
0
Kent
not being funny, but how can people with alziemers read books,My mum who loved reading, had to stop about 12y ago as she couldnt remember what she had just read
I think the idea is that rather than read these books, you can listen. Some lose the ability to read but can still follow a story that is read to them.
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,064
0
Salford
not being funny, but how can people with alziemers read books,My mum who loved reading, had to stop about 12y ago as she couldnt remember what she had just read
I think the title is a bit confusing, they're normally called talking books. There's plenty of free download sites where you can download talking books free but they have to be out of copyright which is normally 70 years after the author dies so it's only really the classics that are available.
If you google either Talking Books or Old Time Radio you'd be amazed at what's available.
The site mentioned here seems to be supplying in copyright books for nothing which is unusual, presumably they've sorted out the copyright fees somehow.
K
 

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