Facts and statistics
In Hampshire there are approximately 255,000 people with varying degrees of deafness. These people will be either Deaf, deafened or Hard of Hearing

• The Deaf (with a capital D) are people who are born deaf and may use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language.
• The deafened (with a small d) are people who have been able to hear and used spoken and written English, but have become deaf either through an accident, illness, or caused by drugs taken to alleviate another condition.
• The Hard of Hearing are people who have used spoken and written English all their life, but are now losing their hearing through the natural ageing process.

 
A proportion of these people will be regular churchgoers, for whom joining their church congregation is a very important part of their life.

Not all forms of deafness are alleviated by wearing a hearing aid, and even those people who are able to wear aids cannot always manage in situations with varying degrees of background noise.

The result is usually a withdrawing from situations which are going to be very tiring and hard to cope with – including their church.

There is no need for these people to feel isolated; given a few modifications to the way services are conducted and the installation of suitable equipment, they can again participate and feel part of their church family.

An easy to install, but not necessarily expensive piece of equipment is a Loop System. This is a length of wire that runs around the perimeter of the church or around a specific area; it is connected to a special amplifier which when switched on creates a magnetic field. For people wearing a hearing aid with a ‘T’ switch, this system brings the sound directly to the ear.
(See our information page for equipment and facilities.)

Use of a visual display or handouts of the hymns or prayers, even the sermon, are also a good way for those with a hearing loss to follow the service and activities.

Making sure that the person speaking is facing the congregation can help enormously. The combination of seeing and hearing can often mean that complete involvement in the service is possible. Candlelight services may seem very romantic, but please turn the lights back on as soon as possible.

A Loop System is also needed where the tea and coffee are served, so that after the service, the people with a hearing loss are able to join in the social side of church life as well.

One in seven people has some sort of hearing loss; those gaps in the pews may be the people who have stayed at home because it has become too difficult for them to participate in their church life.