The Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Councillor Mohammed Saghir lead a hearing screening test at Loxley House, Nottingham City Council offices, on Friday 3 March to mark World Hearing Day.
As well as marking World Hearing Day, the hearing screening, organised by Nottingham charity The Ear Foundation launched an awareness campaign to highlight how important it is for people to look after their hearing.
Chief Executive of The Ear Foundation, Mel Gregory explains: “Throughout the day, staff at the City Council were given the opportunity to have their hearing tested, to illustrate just how easy it is to check how well you can hear.
“Sometimes people may not realise they have hearing loss; but there is evidence that many people with a hearing problem leave it around 10 years before they actually do something about it. So we want to let people know that addressing any difficulty as early as possible can only improve their quality of life.
“The alternative is that you struggle to hear on the phone or face difficulties with real life situations out and about, shopping, at the bank, or in meetings at work, and gradually become withdrawn and isolated.”
The theme for World Hearing Day, which is organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), was ‘Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment’, which aimed to draw attention to the economic impact of hearing loss and the cost effectiveness of interventions to address it.
Mel Gregory says: “The hearing technology is out there and the point is no one really does have to suffer in silence.”
Taking a simple hearing test can be the first step towards a much better quality of life.
The event also provided the opportunity to showcase the unique collaboration between hearing clinical and research services In Nottingham. The Nottingham Auditory Implant Programme, Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit and Nottingham Audiology Services will join The Ear Foundation to illustrate the excellent services for hearing all within the city of Nottingham, ranging from general and specialist clinical services to support and high quality research.
Councillor Mohammed Saghir said: “People in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have a fantastic network of hearing services available on their doorstep and we were delighted to have the opportunity to encourage people on World Hearing Day to access these services and make their hearing a priority.”
To find out more about The Ear Foundation, please click here.
