Reflecting on 2022: a message from the Director of Hearing Loss Services
I can’t quite believe we are in December already and nearing the end of our calendar year. It feels as though the year has passed by so quickly, but perhaps that’s because it has been filled with so much positive activity.
This year we have been able to see many more of our beneficiaries, face-to-face and online. Our LinkUps have continued to be a highly valued service and we have hosted these across the UK.
We have also supported many new people through our Helpdesk and most recently, we have seen the impact of our LiveChat service being available every day of the working week – a 36% increase in people being supported using this approach.
We have also joined in on our charity’s celebrations of 40 years of training hearing dogs to support people with hearing loss. This has presented many wonderful opportunities to meet new people, re-engage with our volunteers and make new contacts in the community. We hope to repeat some of the success of the Information Days and community events in 2023.
We have also been busy supporting our colleagues across the hearing loss industry and reaching new people. In autumn, we attended numerous large events to showcase our work and make new contacts including the British Academy of Audiology, the Association of Teachers of Lipreading to Adults and the Association of Independent Hearing Healthcare Professionals events.
Many of our supporters choose to become Hearing Link Services members, in some cases Life Members, and we are extremely grateful for that continuing support. We have been promoting membership to professional practitioners and hearing loss sector organisations during 2022. This will continue into 2023 along with new developments for members including a special microsite and online community, and priority notification of online events and videos.
It’s also important to reflect upon some of the internal changes we have made in 2022. Our new combined online shop is beginning to welcome new customers, who may have set out to buy a pack of Christmas cards but stayed online to add communication support materials to their ‘basket’, for themselves or for friends and family with hearing loss.
Our charity’s success continues to be significantly supported, shaped and fulfilled by our amazing network of volunteers. This year we saw several of our peer support volunteers commended for their efforts through our charity volunteer scheme, so thank you once again to them and to all the others whose time will come!
In these difficult times, we understand how we all need to make lifestyle changes which means we may to reduce our outgoings and commitments. As a charity we remain reliant on public support to allow us to continue to help people with hearing loss. Thank you once again for your continued interest and support to allow us to do this.
I look forward to sharing more of our updates next year but until then,
Wishing you all a healthy and happy Christmas and New Year.
Best wishes
Angie
Director of Hearing Loss Services