SIX Powys volunteers – who have been volunteering for a combined total of nearly 70 years – have been honoured for their commitment by Action on Hearing Loss Cymru.
Denise Hall, Diane Morgan, Phil King, Joe Catley, Ursular Donally and Molly Faulkner have each done over a decade of volunteering for the charity. They are currently part of the award-winning ‘Hear to Help’ service running hearing aid maintenance clinics in communities across Powys.
This allows people to get hearing aid maintenance done by trained volunteers at local community centres or at their homes rather than having to travel to hospital audiology departments.
Molly Faulkner, who has volunteered for the charity for over 12 years, said: “Many people don’t realise the isolating effect that losing your hearing can have. Throughout my time volunteering with Action on Hearing Loss Cymru I have been privileged to be able to help so many people regain their independence. Seeing someone’s face light up when they realise they can hear again is incredible. I would tell anybody who’s interested in changing people’s lives that volunteering with the charity is a truly rewarding experience.”
The volunteers from across Powys have donated their time in various roles for the charity over the years including setting up social groups for those isolated by hearing loss.
Deborah Lloyd, an audiologist at Brecon War Memorial Hospital, said: “The work that these volunteers do is crucial to helping us run an efficient audiology service. Their training means that they can deal with minor repairs which frees up our time to concentrate on the more complex cases. Without the ‘Hear to Help’ volunteers we would be utterly inundated. We would like to congratulate these volunteers on their work and hope the service grows in the future.”
The project is currently looking to develop its services in Powys and the charity is urging potential volunteers to get in touch with them. The service is seen as particularly effective because of the rurality of Powys and the fact that attending a local hospital can be difficult for many people.
Rebecca Woolley, director of Action on Hearing Loss Cymru, said “The commitment that these volunteers have shown over the years is remarkable.
“There are over 575,500 people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus in Wales and our work to support them would not be possible without our hard-working volunteers.
“I would like to thank these volunteers for their service and look forward to welcoming new recruits as we grow to reach even more communities in Powys.”
For more information on local ‘Hear to Help’ clinics, or to get involved, go to www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/wales.
These are the dates for our monthly drop-in service: Brecon – The Library, 1st Tuesday of the month (2pm-4pm); Builth Wells – The Groe TIC, 3rd Wednesday (9.30-11.30am); Crickhowell – The CRiC Centre, 2nd Wednesday (10am-midday); Hay-on-Wye – Bowling Club, 3rd Thursday (10am-midday); Knighton — Methodist Church – From January 2018 at Knighton Community Centre, 2nd Tuesday (10.30am-12.30pm); Llanidloes Hospital, 3rd Thursday (10am-1pm); Llandrindod Wells – Holy Trinity Church 1st Wednesday (10am-midday); Presteigne —Youth Centre, 4th Tuesday (1.30-3.30pm); Newtown —Library, 4th Friday (10am-1pm); Welshpool — Corn Exchange, 2nd Tuesday (10am-1pm); Machynlleth — The Care Centre, 1st Friday (10am-midday); Ystradgynlais – The Welfare Hall, 1st Friday (10am-midday); Rhayader — The Surgery, 2nd Wednesday (10am-midday); Sennybridge — The Community Hall, 3rd Friday (10.30am-12.30pm); Llanfyllin —Llwyn Teg Residential Home, 2nd Wednesday (10.30am-midday), Talgarth — Talgarth Medical Centre, 4th Tuesday (1.30pm-3.30pm).