Essex: Charity Unites Kids And Jailed Parents

Children with parents in prison are to be given free CD players so they can listen to stories recorded by their jailed mothers or fathers, thanks to an Essex-based charity.

WaveLength, based in Hornchurch, has teamed up with fellow charity Storybook Dads and Storybook Mums to give out 100 CD players. 

Fairytales, popular children's books, educational materials and "memory books'' are recorded by parents on to CDs for their children to play, so the youngsters can hear their parents' voices whenever they want. 

WaveLength chief executive officer Tim Leech said: "WaveLength's mission is to use technology to bring contact, comfort and companionship. There aren't many situations more isolating than losing a parent, even if the separation is temporary.'' 

Storybook Dads and Storybook Mums has been recording books on CD since 2002, but as the economic situation has worsened, it has made it more difficult for families "on the outside'' to buy the equipment needed to listen. 

WaveLength will now help to bridge that gap in a new role for the organisation. 

The charity was originally set up in the 1930s to give radios to bedridden people on low incomes, but now provides a variety of technologies for vulnerable groups including elderly, disabled or chronically ill people.