Services update February 2023
Hello everyone – with Shrove Tuesday now been and gone, the end of February is already upon us.
I wanted to use this opportunity to highlight someone who has been making the most of the slightly longer days by getting out and about a bit more while helping to raise vital funds for the Charity.
That person is May who signed up for our charity’s 28 Challenge (running throughout February) by walking 28 different local walks.
You can follow progress through her regular updates on the Hearing Link Services Volunteer Group Teams page – so please do login and check out her beautiful photos (shown below) and send your words of encouragement as she hits the home straight!
All our services are funded by voluntary donations and if you’d like to support her, you can do so here. Please share the link if you can.
Remember, to get to Teams for computers (laptops or desktops) you can download the Teams app here: Download Teams. For phones or tablets, you can download the ‘Microsoft Teams; app from your app store/play store for your device.
Don’t miss out on using this important news and opportunities!
LinkUp Groups
The full dates and locations for the financial year 2023-24 are now posted on our website and open for booking.
Once we know the size and profile of these groups, we’ll be able decide on various elements to support their delivery. This includes the number of volunteers and roles needed, contributor sessions, and training opportunities for new LinkUp volunteers. Please make a note of the dates on our LinkUp Groups page.
The dates are also being widely promoted on our social media channels. We would be very grateful if you could take a moment to ‘like’ and ‘retweet’ whenever you see these posted – don’t forget to make sure you are following us on Facebook and Twitter too and encourage others to follow us when you can.
We will have news of the March LinkUp Group taking place at The Grange in Buckinghamshire in our next volunteer newsletter.
Community outreach sessions
The excellent drop-in sessions in London and Edinburgh continued in February. Huge thanks to Alison, Elaine, Ann, Margaret and Kirsty for leading on these invaluable community sessions.
If you would like to be involved in volunteering at either venue, please get in touch. Please share this information on your networks to anyone who would benefit from a friendly in-person conversation.
Personalised and self-help services
Enquirers to the Helpdesk and LiveChat services picked up again in January with a combined 115 people requesting help and advice that way.
Other services accessed in January included 24 people at in-person and online Community Days.
The website had over 26,000 visitors in January and we are seeing a growing number of people downloading essential resources from our website.
We are also seeing great value in our video library with over 800 during the month. You can browse our suite of videos on our YouTube channel.
Social media posts had 150 click-throughs, meaning that people accessed the link in the post, rather than just browsing. And we continue to support people with products through our online shop – helping 50 beneficiaries in January.
Helpful Hours
Our pilot subject ’Getting the Most From Your Audiology Appointment’ is reaching the rehearsal stage. The first read-throughs have been really encouraging and our aim is bring it to an invited audience soon.
This will help our volunteer team to see how far we have come, and also to help shape the finished article. We are currently finding the balance between what to present live and what to add to the accompanying resources! Do look out for more information in the coming weeks. Thanks again to all involved!
So, all in all, you can see how much of a reach we have, and how also each aspect of our services offer fits together. It’s all very encouraging as we head towards the spring and the new financial year, and the exciting developments to come. I hope you are as proud of the part you play as we are, and also that you feel encouraged by the bigger picture and the variety of ways we are helping people to access the help and support they need.