We are delighted to have been able to offer these mini libraries to hospices free of charge, through the generous donations of charitable trusts and companies.
We have so far delivered to over 160 adult hospices in England and to the majority of children's hospices throughout the UK, ensuring our audiobooks bring comfort to as many adults and children as possible.
The CD mini-libraries consist of a huge range of fantastic audiobooks on MP3 CD by some of the biggest names in the publishing world, including Margaret Atwood, Bill Bryson, Dan Brown and Jacqueline Wilson. Each hospice has so far also received MP3 CD players and headphones to distribute to its patients. We are also now providing tablets so that hospices can access all of our online titles, greatly increasing the number of books that patients are able to enjoy.
We are grateful to have the support of David Praill, Chief Executive of charity, Help the Hospices, who had this to say about the project:
"The Books for Hospices project from Listening Books has already made a tremendous difference to hundreds of hospice patients and their families, with mini libraries being installed at more than 30 local hospices across the UK. These audiobook libraries have supported hospices in their mission to help people live well until they die, by giving people with life-limiting and terminal illnesses the chance to reap the therapeutic benefits of books, and continue to do the things they love - like relaxing with a novel or learning about something new."
We are now also able to provide tablets for hospices, so they can access over 10,000 audiobooks through our online download and streaming service.
If you know of a voluntary-run hospice in the UK which might like to receive a mini-library, either on CD or online, please direct them to this page or ask them to contact Claire Bell at cbell@listening-books.org.uk or by calling 020 7407 9417.
The tablets are brilliant! We have been loaning one to a family who does not have access to the internet and we have been able to regularly upload new stories on for the teenager and her whole family to listen to together. This has been such a positive influence for the whole family and has been an additional way that the family can make memories together. Also, we are going to be loaning another tablet to a young girl who is blind. She already loves listening to audiobooks but this will open up the vast amount of storytellers that she can access. Thank you again for all the support of the tablet. They are such a valuable resource.
Toni Goodall