April 11, 2016
I recently asked one of my charities, Action on Hearing Loss, about the possibility of meeting some of their staff and/or seeing how the fundraising money is spent. Also, being deaf myself, I was naturally interested to see how they operated.
I was somewhat limited with location and times but I managed to arrange a visit at a “Hear to help” service. Hear to Help provides free hearing advice and support across the UK. With it being a weekday – and at a church meeting – this session was primarily attended by older people, however anyone can attend.
This particular service runs from 9:30-11:30 and is lead by a lovely lady named Diane Whitehead. I arrived around 9:45 and was shown the way through to Diana who was already very busy tending to a gentleman who was having trouble with his new aids! I have to say Diane was a very approachable lady and made me feel immediately at ease. She was accompanied by a young girl who was obtaining some work experience before a potential career as an audiologist, she too was lovely.
The main objective of these sessions is to provide support and assistance to anyone with a hearing loss. Although they don’t have all the technical equipment to provide hearing tests, tune hearing aids and create moulds, they do also offer basic hearing aid maintenance. Example services while I was there included include a blocked aid, replacement tubing and batteries or simply want to find out more information about their deafness. The session is once a month and, with Diane constantly busy, it was clear that that many people were making use of the service.
I think the biggest realisation for me was that without this session many of the people in attendance would simply not be able to hear. One lady told Diane she had been having issues with her aid and to my amazement she wasn’t aware that the battery had ran out! One gentleman was struggling with his new aids and Diane was successfully reassuring him that he would adapt to them eventually (something I could directly relate to as I have experienced it myself recently!). Another was 99 years of age and, like many others in attendance, it is difficult for her to get to the audiologist so she’s pretty much dependent on the provided transport to this this monthly session (It’s worth noting that in addition to these sessions Diane also provides home visits for those less-able).
In total there were around 12-15 people who came to see Diane in the 1.5 hours I was there, many of these were great characters and it was a very enjoyable and insightful morning.
I thought that Diane did an excellent job. Many of these people are dependent on her and the way she handled her patients was great. It’s apparent that she’s very well liked amongst the group and she offered sound (pardon the pun) information to any questions she was asked. It was clear she was passionate about her job and helping these people in here presence. It was quite inspiring the direct impact she has on these people’s lives!
I’m really glad that I went to see how the money is spent and I’m also really glad that I’m supporting people – like myself – whose lives are made harder by being deaf via Action on Hearing Loss!
If you’re wanting to find out more information about the Hear to Help sessions, or the charity in general, you can do so here.
