Harrogate Deaf Society
ACTIVE THROUGHOUT NORTH YORKSHIRE
Our Mission:
To provide financial aid to the D/deaf community in North Yorkshire.
Resource Centre
We fund a Resource Centre which is situated in:
Community House, 46-50 East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5RR
Tel: 01423 503700
The Resource Centre is open on Wednesday afternoons at 2.00 pm and there is no need to book an appointment.
The centre is run by Paul Senior from Sensory services
Paul’s number: (18002) 07977802150
Paul’s email: Paul.Senior1@northyorks.gov.uk
He will be happy to demonstrate and provide many types of home equipment to help D/deaf people.
Examples include equipment to alert for doorbells, alarm clocks, the phone ringing ringing, baby crying or smoke alarms.
We also demonstrate conversation aids, cordless headphones (so that you can listen to a louder volume on TV without disturbing other people) and loop systems to help you hear sound more clearly if you use hearing aids.
Lipreading
There are 11 million deaf or hard of hearing people in the UK and many of these people wear hearing aids.
However, hearing aids have their limitations, especially in noisy situations or with a group of people. This problem can be helped considerably if a deaf person learns to lipread with a good lipreading teacher.
Although you cannot learn to lipread everything, classes will give you the tools and awareness to develop your skills. They can improve your confidence and are a great way to do something positive and practical about your hearing loss.
Lipreading classes are very informal and friendly and are taught by a qualified teacher to adults. You will also pick up lots of tips and practical information to help you cope with your hearing loss.
There is a huge demand for lipreading classes but unfortunately, a shortage of lipreading teachers. Contact ATLA to find out if there is a lipreading class in your area: www.atlalipreading.org.uk
Because of the shortage of lipreading teachers, the Harrogate Deaf Society is prepared to fund the cost of training for anyone who would like to become a lipreading teacher.
British Sign Language
British Sign Language (BSL) is the first language of the Deaf community and there are 87,000 Deaf people who use this language on a daily basis. In order for Deaf people to communicate effectively, with hearing people they need a BSL interpreter. The NRCP is the national regulator of BSL interpreters but there are only 908 interpreters qualified to be on their listing.
BSL interpreters translate the spoken word into BSL for Deaf people and this is a vital service. It is very important that during hospital appointments, solicitor meetings, police investigations, etc that the Deaf community fully understand what is being said via the BSL interpreter.
It is also important that parents of Deaf children and children of Deaf parents are taught the BSL language. There is therefore a huge demand for BSL interpreters but because there are so few interpreters, the Deaf community often find themselves without an interpreter at their time of need.
To help with this situation, The Harrogate Deaf Society will financially support a student in North Yorkshire to study BSL to become a BSL interpreter.
BSL interpreters can be found on the following websites:
www.nrcpd.org.uk
www.rbsli.org
www.yorkshire-bsl-interpreters.co.uk
And some local BSL interpreters can be contacted via the phone numbers and emails below:
Fiona Hudson, 07739020086 fionahudson.interpreter@gmail.com
Claire Galvin, 07884181497 clairegalvin@live.co.uk
Dr Russell Aldersson, 07976412935 russellaldersson@gmail.com
If other interpreters would like to be included on this page, we would be very pleased to add your details.
Contact
To Apply For Funds
In the first instance please send an email outlining your request to: bob.tunnicliffe@btinternet.com
Or send a letter to:
Harrogate Deaf Society, Community House, 46-50 East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5RR
Your request will then be considered by the Society’s Trustees. If the Trustees feel that the request fits their criteria, they will send you an application form for you to provide further information.
Over the years we have given financial aid to the D/deaf community in North Yorkshire for many different reasons so if you feel you have a financial need, please do not hesitate to apply.