How did the Shrewsbury Hard of Hearing group begin?

The demand for a social group for Hard of Hearing people came from Beginners Lip-reading courses.  One particular group in Spring 1998 got on so well, that that they were keen to put in the work to start a Shrewsbury group. All the class were interested (12 in all), but not sure how to start. Vicky Sadler, Lip-reading Tutor and Hearing Therapist from Royal Shrewsbury Hospital talked to the group about “a way forward”.

Telford had formed a Hard of Hearing Group about 6 months earlier which was progressing well, and Vicky was keen for a group to start in Shrewsbury.  After a couple of coffee mornings at the home of Alison Wreford – everyone came. 

It was agreed to form the Group which was named “Shrewsbury Hear Hear Forum”.  Rose Thompson volunteered to act as Chairman/Secretary and Alison Wreford, Treasurer.  They both worked hard and eventually found

a venue to meet -  the Community Hall in Ditherington.

The group applied to Hearing Concern for a £50 Hard of Hearing Group starter fund, which they gratefully received paying for some of the initial costs. We were given the use of the room free from our first meeting in September 1998 to the end of the year, omitting October – no meeting, the hall was already booked.  Vicky was a tremendous help, and together with Rose they obtained speakers, mostly from the Public Authorities. 

Vicky supplied a list of people from other Shrewsbury Lipreading courses who had expressed an interest in a social group.  About 20 came, and that average was maintained for the period we were at that venue.  The Community Council were helpful to us as well, allowing a small group of us to hold business meetings, using a room on their premises, free of charge.  A member of their staff chaired the meetings.

Organisation at the Meetings

There was a welcome person/cum tea maker (Lily Massie) at the door.  The initial charge was £1 which included tea and biscuits and draw tickets were charged for 50p a strip – 20p per ticket.  The chairman brought the prizes.

Stan Hawkings joined as treasurer in early 1999.  Geoff Othen, volunteered to be our fund-raiser and for 1999 the proceeds of the draw from the Operatic Society amounted to £1,200.  We were rich!

Our Christmas parties for 1998 and 1999 were both bring and shared meals, which went well and concluded with Christmas readings and carol singing.

Meetings continued in the Community Hall, but still no growth.  In January 2001, we moved to the United Reformed Church Hall at Abbey Foregate and this proved to be a more convenient venue and we started to grow.  Eventually, the Group was renamed “Shrewsbury Hard of Hearing Group”.
During the years that Don Sunderland was chairman, the group continued to grow.  During the period an evening meeting was held for the younger Hard of Hearing people - this only ran for just over 12 months. 

Campaigns

In 2002 Don and members of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hard of Hearing groups were part of a campaign to find out where loop systems were in the county eg theatres, banks, cinemas.  In conjunction with the Access Officer for Shrewsbury, the aim was to make services and companies more aware of loop systems and to make sure that they were switched on!  Vicky Sadler and the Access Officer then put the information on to a database and published the results.

Computers!

Many members benefited from Computer training courses arranged with the Shropshire Libraries in  2005. This was very successful and many members had an insight into IT and even became avid Internet users.

Don Sunderland realised through the computer training that there was a real need for information to be more easily available to people with a hearing loss and that a website would be the ideal way to facilitate that.  He managed to get support from Jackie Elliott, the Sensory Resource and Development Service and the Community Council to fund the website.  Through Don’s hard work and initiative, Shropshire is now fortunate to have the resource of the Sensory Impairment website.

Lyn Whalley took over from Don Sunderland as Chair in February 2006.

The Hard of Hearing Group meets on every second Monday of the month.  We have excellent speakers.  Lyn Whalley realised that some members of the Group with severe to profound hearing losses found it difficult to follow what was being said.  So Lyn with the help of her husband Vincent managed to secure funding from the Shropshire Christian Association with Deaf People which enabled us to purchase a digital projector and screen to add to the laptop that we already owned, and also to pay for a word processor operator at each meeting.  Now a summary of everything that is being said by speakers is projected on the screen for members to read as well as hear.

In January 2008, we also secured funding from the Community Council to enable us to upgrade the loop system which is now installed in the larger hall.

The Group is going from strength to strength and we now have over 50 members.

Trips

Summer outings to a variety of venues and Christmas Lunches continue to be highlights of the year. Every month brought a new speaker that made all the meetings thoroughly enjoyable for all.

Being Hard of Hearing can be very isolating, but many members have made friends with similar difficulties through being members of the Hard of Hearing group. Shrewsbury is fortunate to have a dynamic Hard of Hearing group with a dedicated Chairman and a committee of people who have not only provided social opportunities, but have also been a campaigning force and are often called on by the Audiology department for their opinion on a variety of subjects. The group maintains good links with all the local services who support people with a hearing loss.

Where are the Hard of Hearing Groups in Shropshire?

There are now 6 Hard of Hearing groups in the county :-
Shrewsbury, Telford, Oswestry, Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Ludlow. It is planned to start a group in Bridgnorth in the near future, maybe early 2009.  There are also links to the National Association for Deafened People through Vincent  Whalley, who is also a trained Outreach Worker for the LINK Centre for Deafened People.

The Shrewsbury Hard of Hearing Group continues to be publicised through the Audiology Department when new people receive their hearing aids and through Effective Hearing Programmes, Lipreading courses and the Sensory Impairment services. 

On 8th September 2008, we celebrated our 10th birthday with a celebratory lunch with invited guests including the Mayor of Shrewsbury & Atcham, Councillor Mrs. Anne Chebsey.

More information on any aspect of the Hard of Hearing Group can be obtained from :--

Lyn Whalley on 01939  290 489
lynwhalley@hardofhearing.org.uk
Audiology at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
and the Sensory Impairment Web Site
www.sishropshire.org.uk