"Hear to Help" Needs Volunteers For Hearing Aids Project

The charity is calling for volunteers. Ideally project volunteers will be hearing aid users themselves, or have personal experience of someone who uses a hearing aid.

The project, called Hear to Help, will offer people diagnosed as needing a hearing aid information and practical support from fully trained volunteers. Montgomeryshire will be the first area in Wales to benefit from the service in June, followed by Brecon & Radnor and Ceredigion later in the year.

"This is an exciting development for deafened and hard of hearing people in Mid Wales," explains Jim Edwards, Director of RNID Cymru. "Hearing loss often brings with a feeling of social isolation as people are often unable to follow and join in conversations with their families, friends and work colleagues. Hearing the doorbell, watching TV or using the telephone, which most people take for granted, can become difficult or even impossible. They are often unaware of the types of technology that can improve things for them enormously."

The project is currently looking for people who would like to help deafened and hard of hearing people and would consider participating in the project. Taster training sessions for people interested in the project are taking place in the area. Hearing aid users who have adjusted to using a hearing aid and would be willing help others are particularly welcomed.

The project has been made possible by grants from the Big Lottery Fund and Wales Council for Voluntary Action. It is a wonderful opportunity for existing hearing aid users to provide support and friendship to new hearing aid users in their local community, who may feel isolated or bewildered by their hearing loss.

If you are a hearing aid user, or have personal experience of someone who uses a hearing aid, and can spend a few hours a week with someone recently diagnosed with hearing loss, please contact Hear to Help. Similarly if you are a new hearing aid user and need support and practical information, get in touch.

About The Author:

Jim Edwards is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.digital-hearing-aids-n-protection.com. An ongoing source for information on hearing loss, digital hearing aids and innovations to hearing aid technology.