Rotarian Paul Wood of the Rotary Club of Birmingham has collected over 21,000 redundant hearing aids to help children in developing countries who suffer from impaired hearing. As digital hearing aids replace analogue versions, Paul has been collecting the unwanted devices to give children in third world countries such as India the chance to hear for the first time.
The old hearing aids cannot be recycled in the UK, but there is a high demand for them in third world countries. Paul has been working with audiology centres in Warwick, Solihull and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to collect the vital equipment that can change so many lives.
Following the success of his collections in 2013, Paul is looking for people and organisations across the country to get involved to help reach his target for 2014. He commented: “We’re thrilled with the efforts of our local audiology centres as well as individual donations and we hope to take the collection nationwide.
“As digital hearing aids replace analogue versions, many people in the UK find themselves with these spare devices lying forgotten in their homes while only one in 40 people in the developing world who need a hearing aid has access to one.
“Imagine the look on a child’s face when they are supplied with a hearing device and can hear for the first time in their life. It makes all the effort worthwhile. In addition to unwanted hearing aids, we are also looking for a range of audiology equipment from hospitals such as batteries, otoscopes and audiometers.”
To arrange to donate equipment please email Paul Wood.
