Aim: To improve early support services so children who are deaf or hard of hearing have the same opportunities as everyone else.

Impact: The Early Support Programme has been completely rolled out as a national programme to all local authorities in England, successfully integrated into the government's new Children's Plan and will form an integral part of policy and practice for families in the future. This has benefited an estimated 10,000 families who now get an integrated family-centred approach to services, ensuring better support for children and less stress for parents.

Working with NDCS, we ensured that the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) made available, for the first time, data on the performance and achievement of children who are deaf or hard or hearing at school. From this we have been able to identify areas in which we can take action.

See our impact in Northern Ireland.

Aim: To ensure that cochlear implants are routinely available to adults and children who could benefit from them – and that those who could gain substantial additional benefit from an implant in each ear are offered two.

Impact: Thanks to the lobbying of RNID, NDCS and other charities, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) introduced new guidance in January 2009. Cochlear implants in both ears are now recommended for two groups of people who where previously excluded from routinely being funded on the NHS: adults with severe to profound deafness who are blind or have other disabilities that affect their spatial awareness; and all children with severe to profound deafness who don't get enough benefit from hearing aids.

We also produced groundbreaking research with the Ear Foundation to support our case and provide guidance to schools to ensure that children with cochlear implants can get the best support at school and don't miss out on the benefits of their implants.

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