Hearing loss is an invisible disability that affects as much as 17% of the population and about 1 in 3 people over the age of 60, yet that is vastly misunderstood and ignored. Hearing loss can be very isolating and even lead to depression, especially in the older population, which may already suffer from mobility and sight problems. A hearing aid will not restore normal hearing, but will help understand speech better, and thereby to restore confidence in a person with hearing loss. Learning to lip-read and meeting with other people who suffer from hearing loss also helps greatly, though even the best of lip-readers will only manage to lip-read about 35% of what is being said. Sometimes, simple measures such as teaching our friends and relatives some communication tactics, raising awareness of hearing loss around us and acquiring a loop system to help with hearing the television, can make a positive difference to the quality of life of a hard-of-hearing person.  

Hearing Help Uttlesford is a registered local charity that was started nearly 25 years ago. It was previously known as CamTAD (Saffron Walden). The main activity of the charity is to help local hearing-aid users with re-tubing and cleaning of their aids. Hearing Help holds regular sessions at four sites, in Saffron Walden, Thaxted, Great Dunmow and Stansted Mountfitchet. As well as those sessions, its specially trained volunteers will also make house calls to anyone who would experience difficulty in attending one of the regular sessions referred to above. The charity also helps with information on how to acquire an NHS hearing aid, on communication tactics and on hearing loss in general. It has also covered the costs of the local lip-reading classes for several years, which run from September till June in Saffron Walden and are run by the North & West Essex Adult Community College. Hearing Help can also demonstrate environmental aids that can help people with a hearing loss, such as loop systems and amplified telephones and it holds two meetings a year, where a special guest speaker is invited to talk on some aspect of hearing difficulty. Hearing Help can also give talks to interested groups on request.  

Here is a summary of what Hearing Help Uttlesford does:

Ø      Re-tubing and cleaning of NHS hearing aids and hearing aid battery testing

Ø      Four monthly sessions held in Uttlesford (no appointment needed)

Ø      Advice on fitting a hearing aid

Ø      Residential homes and sheltered accommodation visits / training of staff in assisting residents who wear hearing aids

Ø      Home visits

Ø      Demonstration of equipment to assist hard-of-hearing people

Ø      Simple (non-technical) advice on loop systems for local charities and businesses

Ø      Advice on and funding for lip-reading classes held in Saffron Walden

Ø      General information on coping with hearing loss, communication tactics, etc.

Ø      Talks to interested groups

Ø      Two meetings a year in Saffron Walden

Ø      Members receive two newsletters a year, can vote at AGM and benefit from reduced fees for lip-reading classes. The annual membership fee is £3. 

Hearing Help Uttlesford can be contacted via our co-ordinator, Joan Hoadley, on 01799 599 790 (office hours only) or by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .