Hidden Hearing Isle of Man is proud to announce its plans to usher in the New Year with a further commitment to the national charity, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
Throughout December and January, Hidden Hearing plans to donate ?5 to Hearing Dogs for every free hearing assessment carried out at its Village Walk practice where members of the public are also invited to drop in for an informal chat, a mince pie and a coffee over the festive season. The initiative follows a similar scheme launched earlier in the year, which saw Hidden Hearing donate the same amount for every free consultation throughout April and May.
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is a UK wide registered charity that specially selects and trains dogs to respond to specific sounds that might ordinarily be missed by the hard of hearing. Whether at home, in public, or in the workplace, hearing dogs are trained to alert their owners by touch, using a paw to gain attention before leading their owner to the source. For sounds such as smoke or fire alarms, for example, the dogs will lay down to indicate danger.
Whenever possible, the dogs are selected from rescue centres, however, many are also donated by breeders and members of the public, with the remainder coming from the Charity’s own breeding scheme. The charity relies totally on the generosity of people, companies and organisations to support its work in helping approximately 650,000 severely or profoundly deaf people in the UK who could benefit from a hearing dog. It costs a total of ?7,500 to train just one hearing dog in an intensive programme which sees a puppy become a fully trained helped in just 18 months.
Hidden Hearing’s leading Audiologist, Paul Richards, commented on the fundraising initiative: “Following the success of last summer’s scheme, we are very proud indeed to once again be supporting Hearing Dogs for Deaf people. Charities such as this play a vital part in providing a comprehensive hearing care service for the hard of hearing and I believe really do help to improve quality of life. It is often easy to forget that, aside from the social barriers faced by the hard of hearing, there are, of course, many dangers that we are alerted to via sound, whether upon crossing a busy street or becoming alerted to a fire alarm. As such, it is important that we continue to work together to raise awareness of the fantastic work of these organisations and of their reliance upon the good will and generosity of the community.”
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People provides a national service and no charge is made to recipients. Since its inception in 1982, the charity has matched more than 1,500 hearing dogs to their owners.
Opening hours over the holiday season for the Village Walk practice, Onchan, are as follows:
Monday 10th to Friday 14th December – 9am ‘til 3pm, excluding Wednesday 12th.
Monday 17th to Thursday 20th December – 9am ‘til 5pm, and Friday 21st 9am ‘til 3pm.
