actiononhearingloss.org.uk
25
Restaurants, cafés and pubs have
become so noisy in recent years,
making it increasingly difficult for
people with hearing loss to socialise.
It’s not just that the background
music is too loud, that the hard
surfaces bounce noise around the
room, or that the coffee machine
bubbles so that everyone shouts to
be heard. It’s that all of these things
combine while I’m trying to hear my
friends or family talk or catch the
punchline of a joke.
Jean Straus
London
•
We believe that people must be able to exercise their rights. This year we’ve created
resources to help people confronting deafness, tinnitus and hearing loss understand
what their rights are – and explain clearly to service providers and employers what
they’re legally obliged to do. 2,019 people have viewed our resources on visiting the
cinema; 1,783 on visiting a GP; and 2,619 on telling an employer about a hearing loss.
•
With ministerial support, we successfully launched a major new report, Hearing Matters,
incorporating startling findings and specific recommendations for government – at four
parliamentary and assembly receptions across the UK. More than a thousand people
told us which of the issues covered in Hearing Matters they find most pressing, helping
us to refine our priorities and messaging. The report was covered in the Daily Telegraph,
The Times and the Daily Mirror, and we had prominent TV coverage in Wales.
•
Almost 1,500 people told us about the challenges they face in cafés, pubs or
restaurants – and what needs to change if they’re to have a fully accessible experience.
These invaluable insights will shape our Speak Easy campaign in 2016–17.