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The family gazette, and the eyes that can't read it

Famileo when they can't read the paper

Is your mum's Famileo gazette piling up on the side table because her eyes have gone? The whole family has been posting photos and news, it's arriving in the post, and she can't read a word of it. You haven't wasted your effort. You just need another way in.

By Tara Button, Ruth's granddaughter and the founder of Reading to Ruth · Updated 20 October 2026

What Famileo is, and why families love it

Famileo is a family newspaper for grandparents who aren't online. Everyone in the family downloads the free app and posts photos and short messages through the month. Famileo then lays them out into a printed gazette, with large photos and large type, and posts it to the grandparent's door.

The timing works like a proper paper. Gazettes are put together on Mondays from whatever's been posted by Sunday midnight (French time), printed and sent within three days, and usually take four to six working days to arrive by post.

It's very popular, and I can see why. Famileo says it has over 1.8 million users worldwide and more than 280,000 grandparents, and on Trustpilot it's rated 4.8 out of 5 from 621 reviews at the time of writing. That's a lot of happy families. Something real arrives in the post, it can be kept and reread, and nobody has to organise anybody: you post when you think of it, and the paper takes care of itself. As someone who has spent years championing things that are made well and get used, I'd call that a lovely idea, done properly.

What it costs

Famileo's prices were changing while I was writing this, and even its own UK pages didn't quite agree with each other (I'm not judging, I've had weeks like that). At the time of writing (October 2026):

• Plans start at £5.99 a month for a monthly gazette, and you can cancel any time.
• More messages or more gazettes cost more. When I looked, Famileo's site showed plans of up to about £11 a month for two gazettes a month, and its FAQ listed a weekly gazette at £17.99 a month.
• The Famileo Box is the gift version: £49, postage included, for six months of monthly gazettes, plus a gazette holder, a how-to guide with a sample gazette and a little notebook.

Please check Famileo's own UK site for today's prices before you buy.

In a care home

Some care homes are Famileo partners. In those, families can get the subscription free through a family code from the home, and the gazette is emailed to the home each Monday and printed for the resident there. MHA, the charity care provider, is one group that uses a weekly Famileo Gazette in its homes. If your parent has just moved into a home, it's worth asking whether it's one of them.

Reading to Ruth is not connected with Famileo. Famileo is a trade mark of its owner, and its prices and features may have changed since this was written; check Famileo's own site.

When the print is no use any more

Famileo's large type and big photos are a real kindness to tired eyes, and for someone whose sight is fading but not gone, they may be all she needs. But large print is still print. When someone is registered blind, or the words have turned to fog, the gazette becomes a lovely thing she can hold and can't read.

As far as I can find, Famileo doesn't offer an audio or read-aloud version. I checked its UK site and its app listing in October 2026, and both describe photos and written messages only. So, if the gazette's arriving and Gran can't see it, here's what I'd try.

Someone reads it aloud

• Care staff or a regular visitor. Some carers are glad to read a page or two over a cup of tea. Ask kindly, offer a time that suits them, and don't count on it every week; their days are full.
• You, on the phone. You've already seen everyone's posts in the app, so ring when the gazette lands and read her the family's news yourself. It's the same paper, with your voice on it.
• Take turns. If there are a few of you, make it a rota, so one person reads each week and nobody feels it's all on them.

Help her see it, if there's some sight left

• Light and a magnifier. A good lamp aimed at the page and a lit magnifier can make the big print readable again for some people. Ask her optician about a low vision assessment, or ring the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 for advice on what might suit her.
• Ask for full-page photos. Famileo offers a full-page photo layout, which makes faces far easier to pick out than a collage of small ones.

Send the news as sound as well

• Voice notes. Ask everyone to send a short voice note with their post, and have someone play them to her.
• A talking newspaper. For the local news, there's very likely a free one near her. See our guide to talking newspapers.

What I built for my grandmother

My grandmother Ruth is 101, almost completely blind and hard of hearing, and lives in a care home. A printed paper was never going to work for her. So I built the family's news into the same player she listens to her books on, which turns a tablet into one big Play button.

During the week, anyone in the family can save a voice message from their own phone, or paste in a letter or article to be read aloud. On Sunday morning she presses the same button as always and hears it all together as this week's news from your family, and then her story carries on. The family get an email on Thursday saying what's in so far, and a reminder on Saturday if it's empty. If nobody adds anything, there's simply no bulletin that week.

You can use both. The gazette is something to hold, to show the carers and to keep in a drawer; the bulletin is something to hear. Neither gets in the other's way.