A RETIRED minister has been charming residents after videos of him reading to his grandchildren were shared online.

Charles Martin, 71, from Halstead, has seen great response after releasing videos of him reading Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations.

The grandfather-of-five is an avid reader and loves nothing more than to read aloud to his grandchildren.

However, since the lockdown went in to effect, Charles and his wife, Jenny, have been separated from from their loved ones.

Looking to still read to his grandchildren, Charles, with the help of his daughter-in-law Elisabeth, began to read online.

Elisabeth said: “He’s never done anything like this before.

“He suffers from some heart issues and has had two heart bypasses so he has been in lockdown for more than two months and we haven’t seen him since February.

“He loves reading aloud to his grandkids and this started because we thought it would be a good idea if he were to read to his grandkids over Skype.”

After listening to his readings, Elisabeth thought she would share Charles’s passion with others.

She added: “He has the most wonderful winsome voice.

“I thought about starting a podcast so we could share his reading but we ended up buying him a Facebook portal.

“This was so good because it meant he could just press two buttons and he would go live on Facebook.

“He had read every chapter and I’ve taken every recording and put it on Youtube.”

She added: “He’s excellent at doing all the different voices, his characterisation is amazing.

“He definitely thinks Great Expectations is the best work of Dickens.”

Charles’s reading has seen a fantastic response with his videos also being shared on multiple Facebook pages.

To enjoy his work, visit bit.ly/CharlesMartinGreatExpectations.