Services Update – Nicholas Orpin
Our activities in June and July began with a return of LinkUp Groups to Northern Ireland, and led into a series of events across the UK to mark the Charity’s 40th anniversary.
The LinkUp Group welcomed 14 participants for a weekend (17-19 June) of finding solutions to managing hearing loss and sharing experiences and stories. All credit to the Peer Support Volunteers James, Lisa, Martin and Craig, alongside Group Leader Sue and Kristo, for making this such a successful return!
In July, our Peer Support Volunteers were back in action for the 40th Anniversary Community Days, Afternoon Tea and Hearing Information Days.
At the Hearing Information Days, held at the Beatrice Wright Centre (1 July) and The Grange (12 July), volunteers offered help and advice over tea and biscuits, signposted visitors to our range of services and demonstrated examples of assistive technology. A big thank you also goes out to Aston Hearing, who co-hosted our Hearing Information Day at The Grange and to Sue Falkingham who supported the event at the BWC.
On 13 July we held a volunteer engagement event at The Grange open to all. Many thanks to the volunteers who travelled some considerable distance to be with us. Working in small, workshop-based groups, we took the first steps in developing the Community Day and Helpful Hours services and in shaping the ways in which Peer Support Volunteers can lead and deliver those services. We’ll be feeding back the initial work done and consulting wider on these two new developments in the coming months.
As I write, I’m waiting to welcome LinkUp Group participants back to The Grange for the first time in quite a while. I’ll report back in the next update on how it all went.
Enjoy your summer – take well-earned breaks where you can. Many thanks again to you all!