Scotland

Aims and Impacts

• To maximise the employment opportunities for people who are deaf or hard of hearing through a sustainable programme of employment advice and guidance

  RNID Scotland began a transitions project called On the Move to support 16-25-year-olds who are deaf or hard of hearing into education, training or employment. The five-year project, funded by The National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund, supports 40 young people a year.

• To develop further our relationship with NDCS (The National Deaf Children's Society)

  In Wales we worked closely with NDCS on developing future services for young people, and in shaping new mental health services.
  In Scotland we continued our excellent working relationship with NDCS Scotland through joint submissions to consultations, inquiries and bills at the Scottish parliament, and joint meetings with ministers and civil servants.

• To provide first-class communication support to British Sign Language (BSL) users and increase the number of communication professionals

  In Scotland the pd4me website was successfully implemented to support BSL interpreters as part of the Scottish Government-funded Building Bridges project.

  BSL video

• To develop communication services for those with English as a first language, focusing on text-based support and increasing lipreading services

  In Scotland we published a report based on a survey of our members about their experiences of lipreading classes. On the back of this we ran a lipreading class with the Scottish Government Minister for Public Health to highlight the issue of a lack of sustainable funding for classes.

• To campaign to ensure a wide range of communication support is available to all people who are deaf or hard of hearing

  As a result of supporter feedback from our hearing loop campaign, 40 organisations provided us with information on how they intend to improve their services for people with hearing loss.
  We ran loop pilots in seven towns and cities across the UK, and assessed the loop provisions of 677 services - we found that only 22% had working loops. Our follow up of the services we visited has resulted in more than 20 organisations committing to become more accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
  As a result of our 'mystery shopping' for induction loops at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2009, we met the organisers to discuss how to improve access to fringe shows in the future.

• To change the attitude and engagement of service-providing organisations towards people with hearing loss, and to deliver two major relationships with service providers covering 20,000 outlets

  Since meeting Barclays and the Post Office, both organisations have been working to improve their induction loop provision across all their branches.
  We persuaded 38 companies to improve their loop provision in line with best practice.
  We undertook major work on attitudes of service providers to people with hearing loss, including the publication of two reports in Northern Ireland: Access to public services and Access to GP practices. We also carried out research with Scottish members on access to NHS services to be published in 2010. We also met with service providers including the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Education Scotland.

• To campaign for an NHS hearing screening programme for everyone who could benefit

  We have been promoting the hearing screening campaigns in Scotland through fringe meetings at party conferences, lobby meetings with ministers and MSPs. We were delighted to have secured a members' debate in the Scottish Parliament specifically on the Hearing Matters campaign.

• To campaign for accessible audiology services in local communities

  RNID Scotland was part of the working group that developed the first national Scottish Government Audiology standards for adult hearing rehabilitation services. This was a first for the UK. We continue to work closely with the Scottish Government, audiologists and other voluntary organisations to support the implementation of the standards.

• To extend our Don't Lose the Music campaign to reach a wider audience and raise music-lovers' awareness of hearing health

  In Scotland we have opened the Don’t Lose the Music campaign to new audiences such as at the Celtic Connections Festival and gained support from Sunny Govan community radio station and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music.