Standish Lip Reading Society provides lip reading tuition to adults with moderate to severe hearing loss, helping many overcome feelings of isolation and despair. Many group members are older people living alone, who are often not aware of the existence of services they can access in their local community to manage problems associated with hearing loss. For 33 weeks of the year, the group offers tuition sessions, led by qualified lip-reading tutors – who understand the problems faced daily due to their own personal lived experiences. Attending tuition sessions enables members to improve their lip-reading skills and time is also allocated to discuss accessing other services and resources. With improved lipreading ability, people can enjoy the full benefit of their hearing aids and other equipment. This combined with finger spelling, and basic British Sign language, maximises their ability to communicate. Standish Lip Reading Society provide a warm, safe, friendly environment, an opportunity to meet others and the chance to share personal experiences about hearing loss. Giving members the confidence and encouragement to socialise with activities and social events with family, friends and the local community. They’ve also set up a ‘Lending Library’ filled with equipment for their members to try before purchasing, as equipment for the deaf can be very expensive and therefore some people struggle to access it. Standish Lip Reading Society also encourage people with no hearing loss to learn how to communicate with their members, educating them on how to support and assist people with different levels of deafness and help them feel integrated within society. It is always worth remembering that, if you support Forever Manchester, you support all this. The ability of local community groups and organisations to best help people in their community remains dependant on maintaining support for them. To find out more about how you can get support Forever Manchester please email us at marketing@forevermanchester.com or telephone on 0161 214 0940.
