Charity for the deaf launches major fundraising appeal

Nov. 24, 2012 - PRLog -- The launch event, which took place on Thursday 22 November, was attended by Councillor Merlita Bryan, Sherriff of Nottingham and Anna Soubry MP, Junior Minister of Health and MP for Broxtowe, along with hearing specialists, hearing technology users and parents of users.

Councillor Bryan welcomed everyone to the event and praised The Ear Foundation for their groundbreaking work with deaf children and adults, which was helping them make the most of today’s amazing hearing technology.

Anna Soubry MP also congratulated The Ear Foundation for the important work  they carry out with families and for the research partnerships they have established in Nottingham, as well as nationally and internationally which have led to the latest expansion of their services. Ms Soubry has been closely involved with the charity since she officially launched The Ear Foundation’s campaign to raise funds for its first building expansion in 1998.

The charity are looking to raise £0.7m to erect a new building, to be called Sound Space, as Chief Executive Sue Archbold explains: “We have grown enormously since setting up here more than 20 years ago, both in terms of the number of people we help and the number of educational, clinical and research partners we work with at Nottingham University and its hospitals.  As the demand for our work has grown, we are running out of space.”

The new building will double the accommodation for the charity on the current site, without doubling their costs. An additional 250 square metres of space will provide a new group room, interconnecting seminar rooms, IT suite, offices and rehabilitation rooms. The Nottingham business and local community can become involved  in a number of ways, such as sponsoring one of the new rooms, buying  equipment needed for the new services or getting involved with a “buy a brick” scheme.

Sue Archbold concluded: “We have the space, the planning permission and the vision. What we need now is help to make it happen and transform the lives of deaf children, young people and adults.”

Anyone interested in helping the SoundSpace launch appeal can call The Ear Foundation on 0115 942 1985.

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

·         Deafness affects nearly one in six of the population and can have devastating, unseen consequences for individuals and families.  Communication and spoken language is difficult and educational and employment options limited. It is linked with dementia and depression in adults and there are over 45,000 deaf children and young people in the UK. The technological developments are exciting, but only if the technology is used to the full in everyday life in communication.

·         The new building has been designed by Nottingham based architects CPMG who designed the original building next to the listed Marjorie Sherman House. As well as providing full architectural services, CPMG is also providing interior design services to ensure continuity in the theme to create a sensitive, yet stimulating environment where children and adults can learn to experience their new sense of hearing in comfortable and friendly surroundings.

·         The Ear Foundation was founded in 1989 by surgeon Gerry O’Donoghue, audiological scientist Barry McCormick and teacher of the deaf Sue Archbold to fund and provide cochlear implants and demonstrate their benefit in children, recognising the devastating effects that deafness in childhood and adulthood has on language and communication developments.

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