A DEAF man has helped set up a service in central Dundee to support people with hearing aids.
North East Sensory Services (NESS) can supply hearing aid batteries every weekday at its central Dundee office, available free of charge to people with NHS hearing aids.
Stephen Walls, 26, from Dundee, who is deaf and partially sighted, regularly visits NESS and asked for the batteries to be stocked at the Constitution Street resource centre for the convenience of those with hearing loss.
NESS worked with NHS Tayside to expand the availability of the batteries, making them available in the city centre all week for the first time.
NESS is open five days per week 9am-4pm, for blind and deaf people to access its services including rehabilitation, daily living aid technology, IT support, employment and interpreter services.
The charity also has offices in Aberdeen and Elgin, and supports over 6,000 people who have hearing and sight loss.
NESS Dundee has supported deaf people in Tayside since 2013, and – in January 2017 – won the contract to provide joint sensory services, offering practical and emotional support to blind and deaf Dundonians under one roof.
Mr Walls, who has been a service user at NESS for over a year, said: “I like coming into NESS for help with equipment and other advice as they can help me with both my deafness and issues about my visual loss.
“I thought being able to come into a convenient central location would be handy for people as they are likely to be at the resource centre for other help. I got my first hearing aid last year, and it has made a huge difference.”
Carla Marchbank, social worker for NESS, said: “Hearing aid batteries are very important as life can be quite difficult when they run out. It is important to change batteries regularly so that hearing aids work well. We always recommend keeping a spare set, but the easier we can make it for people to get their new batteries, the better.
“NESS has a wide range of services available for deaf and blind people, so the batteries can be picked up when service users come along to visit the library, view new equipment or visit their social worker. The resource centre is open Monday-Friday for those with hearing or sight loss to just come along when convenient.”
Batteries will be supplied to people who bring along their battery books.
To find out more about NESS in Dundee, visit www.nesensoryservices.org, call 01382 721 455 or go along the resource centre at 10 Constitution Street, Dundee, DD1 1LL.
ENDS
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