Hear My Lips

In this first Sources guest blog, U3A invited Kim Snidjers from City Lit to talk more about their lipreading drive

Currently 11 million people in the UK suffer hearing loss. By 2031, one in five of us will experience hearing loss. That is 14 million of us at risk. There is no cure, but there are ways to limit the impact of acquired hearing loss and help people lead healthier, more productive lives. Lipreading is a proven success and everyone who seeks help for hearing loss should receive advice on lipreading. Unfortunately, there are too few classes and access is a postcode lottery.

Hearing loss can be slow and gradual or plunge sufferers into a life of silence immediately. Lipreading can help people lead healthier lives, reduce the risk of social isolation and improve mental wellbeing. There is a clear shortage of classes across the country, but for some, an unfair postcode lottery is making things far worse.

That is why City Lit, one of London’s leading adult education colleges, has launched the lipreading campaign #HearMyLips in its centenary year. When it opened in 1919, City Lit offered classes in lipreading for soldiers who had acquired hearing loss from shelling in WWI. Today, City Lit aspires to help all people with acquired hearing loss manage their everyday life. With a century of expertise, City Lit is one of only three centres in the UK training lipreading teachers. One of the goals is to train more teachers to teach more classes nationwide.

We are proud to have Turner Prize-winning artist and City Lit Fellow Grayson Perry CBE RA, as the patron of our #HearMyLips campaign:

‘By 2031 one in five of us will have hearing loss so that’s 14 million people. So I want your support on the City Lit lipreading campaign #HearMyLips because this could really help you in all situations. I myself have quite significant hearing loss and social situations can be very tricky even with hearing aids.’

See the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYE7cXHcHU&feature=youtu.be You can help by: • Sharing your support on social media including #HearMyLips and @citylit • Talking to those around you to learn how hearing loss affects all our lives • Contacting your local NHS provider to see if they offer referrals for lipreading • Engaging your local MP to increase funding for lipreading provision and training more teachers

To read more go to: https://www.citylit.ac.uk/lipreading