Rotary, working in partnership with the national charity Hearing Link, have started a team of volunteers who include hearing aid wearers, all of whom want to make a difference in their community. This team is a Rotary Community Corps, working together to act literally as the eyes and ears to check on the availability of hearing loops in Swindon, quality of signage and whether loops are working. The monthly audits include shops, churches, libraries, stations, doctors surgeries, theatre and other public buildings – in fact anywhere there should be a hearing loop – our aim is to make Swindon a Champion Town for Hearing Loop availability. The type of audit that the volunteers are undertaking is shown in the video below: ‘Let’s Loop Swindon’ has so far completed surveys of Pharmacies, Supermarkets, Banks and Building Societies, Department Stores, the Designer Outlet Shopping Village for Hearing Loop Provision, in fact 224 premises. We recommend you visit where there are good loop systems:-

• Supermarkets: Co-op Old Town; Co-op Hyde Road; Sansbury Oxford Road.
• Pharmacies: Lloyds Pharmacy throughout Swindon; Rowlands Chemist Sussex Square; Co-op Pharmacy Taw Hill; Penhill Pharmacy; Asda Chemist West Swindon Centre.
• Banks & Building Societies: RBS Commercial Road; HSBC Canal Walk and Marlborough Road; Coventry BS Regent Circus; Lloyds Regent Circus, Cricklade Road and High Street; Nationwide Pipers Way.
• Department Stores: House of Fraser Canal Walk; Next Mannington Retail Park; John Lewis Mannington Retail Park.
• Designer Outlet Village: Costa Coffee; Marks and Spencer; Pizza Express.

Let’s Loop Swindon has received Government backing barely months after getting off the ground in the town. In a further indication that ‘Let’s Loop Swindon’ is beginning to make waves, the Department for Works and Pensions together with The Office for Disability Issues has highlighted the work of ‘Lets Loop Swindon’ in a published Case Study, entitled ‘How private, public and voluntary organisations are improving access for hearing impaired people in Swindon’. The full text of the Case Study can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/improving-hearing-loop-systems-in-swindon The Let’s Loop Team wants to offer help Let’s Loop Swindon, a partnership between Rotary and the hearing loss charity Hearing Link www.hearinglink.org, will continue to audit Hearing Loops across Swindon and hopes others will want to get involved. Hearing loops provide a magnetic, wireless signal which can be picked up by a hearing aid when it is set to the Telecoil. Hearing loops cut out exterior noise and for example in a chemist, where vital medical information is given, ensures that a hearing aid wearer can hear the pharmacist without any confusion. Let’s Loop Swindon’s chair, Tim Mason, said “The audits will be followed up with opportunities for professionals and interested individuals to learn more about hearing loops with a view to improving provision across the town.“ Let’s Loop Swindon forms part of a nationwide ‘Let’s Loop the UK’ initiative, and has the support of Swindon Borough Council, Voluntary Action Swindon, Swindon Equality Coalition, The National Trust, SEQOL, Nationwide, Hearing Link and the Zurich Community Trust. Hearing Aid Survey – Please can you help? Our latest work is to raise awareness about hearing aids, please can you help us by completing our Hearing Aid Survey, so we can develop our work further understanding your issues download the Hearing Aid User Survey or Hearing Aid User Survey Large and please return by email to Tim Mason (see below). If you would like to get involved as a volunteer in the Rotary Community Corps in the Let’s Loop Swindon project, please download the RCC leaflet for Let’s Loop Swindon. To help us Let’s Loop Swindon, when you see this sign please switch to T or select the Loop programme on your hearing aid and help us build demand for hearing loops. For more information about Let’s Loop Swindon please email: tim.mason@1100rotaryeclub.org