A new service, The Hearing Information Exchange, has been set up in Frome to encourage volunteers to learn how to clean and re-tube hearing aids.
Its founder, local resident Wally Harbert, explains that most hearing aids have plastic tubing that needs regular cleaning and replacement. He said, “Users sometimes suffer in silence because neither they nor their relatives can maintain their hearing aids”.
The Hearing Information Exchange (HIE) wants to ensure everyone, including hospital patients and care home residents receive the help they need. Attempts to establish training sessions have been hampered by the difficulty of finding people with the necessary skills to run them.
In its winter newsletter, HIE invites people who want to learn or teach these skills to come forward. It also offers funding for local projects that improve the lives of people with hearing loss.
A copy of the newsletter and further information may be obtained by emailing Wally Harbert at age care@btinternet.com
