Issue 149 14.06.23
The weekly online newsletter for the care sector
Provider teams up to share the gift of hearing COLTEN Care has become the first UK care home provider to partner with a national organisation aiming to recover, repurpose and reuse no-longer-needed hearing aids. The operator’s 21 homes in Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex are collection points for people to drop off hearing aids and avoid them going to landfill. It follows a partnership agreed with newlyestablished campaign group Hearing Technology, Hear Today, Hear Tomorrow. Based in Oxfordshire, HT upcycles pre-loved hearing aids and donates them to people in need in the UK, the developing world and Eastern Europe. Founder Zoe Fawcett-Eustace began to lose her hearing aged 14. “I am so thankful to have had access to hearing aids,” she said. “I know that my life would have been drastically different without them but at the same time I was disheartened to be told to keep my older aids for spares or to throw them away. “With hundreds of millions of deaf people around the world without access to hearing technology that just seemed completely unacceptable. I knew I had to try and do something. “We’re so grateful for Colten Care’s support. We have been working to establish a network of collection centres. There’s
no doubt that there are many, many UK hearing aids going to waste each year. We need as many collection centres as possible to make it easy for people to donate theirs or their loved ones’ hearing aids. “Colten Care are our first partnership with care homes. For them to have embraced the initiative and to have included all 21 of their homes is truly fantastic for us. We are so incredibly grateful and humbled by how many lives we hope to improve through access to better hearing care.” To complement the growth of collection centres, HT is building links with product and parts manufacturers and retailers so that the devices dropped off can then be refurbished and redistributed. Elaine Farrer, Colten Care’s chief operating officer, added: “We share HT’s sustainable ambitions to recycle and repurpose hearing aids and send them to where they are most needed in the UK and around the world. “We know from our own experience in the care sector that many old hearing aids are simply junked which is bad for the environment and a waste of resource. That’s why we are partnering with HT and offering all 21 of our homes across the south as drop-off points where people can come to and hand in hearing aids.”
Two residents at RMBI Care Co. Home Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh Court in Wokingham visited their local branch of the Women’s Institute for an inspiring evening. Gladys and Angela, accompanied by activities coordinator Sharon Fletcher, were invited to a talk called “Extraordinary Women from MERL (Museum of English Rural Life) and University of Reading”. The talk focused on both well-known and less celebrated women, including Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor (politician), Lady Evelyn Balfour OBE (pioneer of organic farming), Jill Betts (educator and researcher), Nora Doreen Thorpe (land army woman), Lavina Smith (teacher and collector) and Elizabeth Waterhouse (artist). All six, who led fascinating lives and careers, had links to the locality.
MS week raises almost £2,000 A WEEK of fun and activities took place at Meadow House in Swaffham, Norfolk, as staff, residents, relatives and the local community raised almost £2,000 for research into Multiple Sclerosis. Every year the Meadow House team – led by activity co-ordinator Jamie Smith – throw themselves into a week-long extravaganza which this year included sponsored cycling, a cold water dunk and an eating competition, along with fun activities for residents at the home. There was also a £500 donation from the Swaffham Lions’ Club. Jamie took part in a cold water dunking and an eating challenge where the menu included red hot hummus, haggis served with peanut butter and orange jelly with
spaghetti hoops and curried custard. He said: “Multiple Sclerosis week is one which is very close to our hearts as a number of our residents here at Meadow House are living with the condition. Every year we try and do things bigger and better than the year before. It was an amazing week – hard work and a lot of fun. We were shown a fantastic amount of support from our relatives and the local community. We are delighted with the amount raised and grateful to the Swaffham Lions Club for their amazing donation.” Healthcare Homes’ chief executive Gordon Cochrane attended the end of week party, spending time with the residents and accepting the cheque from Swaffham Lions Club.
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