Kathryn Sheldon on Hearing Loss

    The speaker at the lunch time meeting on 20^th January 2015 was Kathryn Sheldon from the charity ‘Action on Hearing Loss’.

    Kathryn outlined the very serious problem that hearing loss is both for the individual themselves and for wider society. At this time 10 million people are suffering from hearing loss in this country, and this is set to rise to 1 in 10 of the population in the next few years. Hearing loss is usually caused by either a severe bang on the head, or through the normal ageing process. But increasingly young people are suffering as a result of listening to music at too high a decibel rate.

    Deafness can cause people to become isolated and lonely it can cause tensions in families, and even lead to suicide. However the charity seeks to offer help through support groups, drop in clinics, training in sign language and lip reading. It also supports research that is on going both to improve hearing aids and to find a long term cure.

    The Club was challenged to be aware of the personal and social needs and to do what it can to meet them.

    After answering some questions, Kathryn was thanked for her talk and good wishes offered to the charity for this important work.

 Michael Parrott