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 continue our campaign to ensure NHS waiting times for patients needing hearing aids are reduced.

Impact: We successfully lobbied the Department of Health to introduce the maximum 18-week waiting time target in England for audiology services. By March 2009, 99% of people given hearing aids that month had waited fewer than 18 weeks to receive a hearing aid which has improved their ability to communicate and quality of life.

See our impact in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Aim: To improve the quality of and access to audiology services.

Impact: We continue to work on the Department of Health's Audiology Advisory Board to develop quality standards and guidance for the NHS in England. We also advise those responsible for purchasing hearing aids for the NHS, aiming to ensure that technology continues to improve and that users' needs are fully met.

See our impact in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Aim: To support our members in campaigning for improved access to lipreading classes.

Impact: We encouraged people to tell education providers and central and local government about the importance of lipreading classes. This was done to great effect in Essex. Essex County Council was charging £186 for a 60-hour course (among the highest fees in the country) for classes that used to be free. Learners themselves, supported by RNID, spearheaded a campaign after classes started to close. As a direct result, the council agreed to pay the fees of all existing lipreading students and make free classes available to new learners.

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