THE Rotary Club of Darlington has raised thousands of pounds to help blind and partially-sighted people.

A series of fund-raising nights was held by the club to raise £2,200 for the Talking Newspaper for the Blind, which is based in The Northern Echo offices in Priestgate, Darlington.

Lakhindar Singh, former president of the Rotary Club, is a retired eye surgeon at Darlington Memorial Hospital. He said: "I have always dealt with people with eye problems and I wanted to do something."

The Talking Newspaper for the Blind received the money for a new fast audio copier at a presentation at Darlington Town Hall.