Hearing loss has not stopped Jenny Fielder from helping others. She talks to reporter Hannah Curtis of the Observer newspaper about her voluntary work. Hannah Curtis wrote:
Communication can be difficult enough but it becomes so much harder if you have hearing problems. This is exactly why Jenny Fielder started volunteering at Action for Deafness.
Since joining 10 years ago Jenny has not missed a single shift.
"Me and most of my family suffer from hearing loss, so I know what it's like. I thought if I volunteered I would be able to offer support and understanding that others might not be able to."
Jenny and other volunteers help the charity at the hearing aid maintenance clinic at the Glen Vue Centre in Railway Approach. The service is invaluable to many hearing aid users in East Grinstead for maintenance and advice. Jenny, of Buckingham Drive, East Grinstead, said: "I spend half my time encouring people to carry on and deal with the hearing aids".
"The number of ways you are cut out from life is unimaginable. So many people just become isolated and depressed because of deafness."
Despite dealing with more than 50 patients each week, Jenny still finds the time to visit a number of local nursing homes and the East Grinstead Blind Club.
As Jenny is the only volunteer who lives locally, she also distributes the charity's newsletter and leaflets to doctors' surgeries in East Grinstead to raise awareness.
She said "I don't like all of this recognition, I enjoy doing this and lots of people do just as much as me."
Since being founded in 1994, Action for Deafness has opened 12 clinics in West Sussex, all of which are run by volunteers.
"The clinics are brilliant for the older generation as it saves them a trip to Tunbridge Wells or Haywards Heath if all they need is advice or a battery in their hearing aid changed," said Jenny.
For four years the clinic in the Glen Vue centre has been providing advice and maintenance sessions monthly on a Thursday. It is now starting weekly sessions on a Wednesday from 10am to 4pm.
"It is rewarding work as most people are so appreciative when they find people who understand their difficulties," Jenny added, "Hearing loss is an invisible disability, so consequently there is a huge lack of awareness, which needs to be tackled."
