Blog: Meet the volunteers behind our Helpful Hours

What are Helpful Hours?

We recently announced the launch of a new service called Helpful Hours.

Helpful Hours are a series of 60-minute sessions, based on important hearing loss topics. Each session will include up to five segments to allow for several aspects of the topic to be covered. Our first bookable session is a webinar called ‘How to get the most from your audiology appointment’.

This has been designed by a group of peer support volunteers, who will also present the session. Over the next month, we will be sharing their experience of developing this new service through a series of blogs, but first let’s introduce you to the volunteers involved …

Where did the idea come from?

Hearing Link Services uses the lived and / or professional experience of peer support volunteers to develop our knowledge and services for people living with hearing loss in the UK.

For our first Helpful Hour webinar, a group of volunteers have been instrumental in creating and shaping our fantastic Helpful Hours service which sets out to give information on the most important hearing loss topics.

Our wonderful volunteers

In our first blog, we meet the volunteers involved and the experience they have brought to this new service.

Julia

“I first experienced sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) in my right ear 26 years ago. Then five years ago, I experienced a drop in the other ear. Both losses came with significant balance issues.

By volunteering to develop and present this Helpful Hour, I hope people will have the confidence to get the most from their audiology appointment.

Working, researching, and discussing various experiences, and looking at how we can put together information and knowledge to help others who have hearing loss has been a brilliant experience for me. I can see how it will develop the important work of our charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People in the future.”

Emmanuelle

“My name is Emmanuelle. I have been living with profound hearing loss (bilateral) for more than 20 years.

I am now completely deaf on the left side and received a cochlear implant on the right side in 2020.

Through Helpful Hours, I want to give individuals the tools to understand their hearing loss. I want to help people to take ownership of their condition; to embrace it and live fully.”

Sylvia

“I’m Sylvia. I suffered Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) 15 years ago. It changed my life, and without knowledge of organisations such as Hearing Link Services, I struggled to deal with it.

I wanted to share what I had learned with others facing hearing loss, so I became a peer support volunteer.

Anyone with hearing loss experiences audiology appointments, but to get the best out of them requires an insight that many of us do not have.

Our Helpful Hour addresses all aspects of an appointment. It will provide attendees with a valuable tool and the confidence to use it.”

Join a Helpful Hour

As well as designing and creating our first webinar, our volunteers will also be front and centre presenting to our audience.

They hope many of you can join our first webinar. It’s ideal if you’re preparing to attend your first audiology appointment or returning for a follow-up appointment. It can also help if you are a professional in the sensory / audiology field. To book your place, visit hearinglink.org/helpfulhours

Next time: How Five Golden Nuggets became a Helpful Hour