Scottish Public Health Minister, Michael Matheson MSP was one of the guests who attended Action on Hearing Loss Scotland’s recent Parliamentary Reception to celebrate our centenary. Mr Matheson was amongst those who gave a speech and he spoke about the joint sensory work that we are doing in the Scottish Borders with funding from the Scottish Government and of his recent visit to our BLISS project – Borders Local Integrated Sensory Service.
Speaking of the way we are working Mr Matheson said, “I’m hugely impressed with the model itself and the standard of service made available and I’m keen to develop it further and roll it out across Scotland”.
The Minister pointed out that key to the success was the partnership with organisations like ourselves and the statutory sector working together to offer more effective services for people with sensory impairment.
Mr Matheson went on to say, “I’m also committed to bring forward and developing a Scottish strategy around sensory impairment. Action on Hearing Loss Scotland will be a key partner in taking such a strategy forward. We have committed an additional £6 million to assist and it is important to recognise in the challenges we face in the current economic climate we have to think on how we do things differently.”
Delia Henry, Director of Action on Hearing Loss Scotland added, “I am delighted with what the Minister had to say. I think that we now have an opportunity to really improve the services that are being offered to people with hearing loss.
“When he visited our Hear to Help project in the Borders the Minister was very interested and impressed with the work that we are doing, the role of the volunteers and the impact we were having in the community.”
Guests at the reception included MSP's, representatives from partner organisations, politicians, volunteers, members and Action on Hearing Loss Scotland staff. The event was hosted by Mark Griffin MSP.
Contact us
For further information, or if you would like to speak to one of the team, please contact:
Eileen Clarkson
Campaigns Officer
Empire House,
131 West Nile Street,
Glasgow,
G1 2RX
Telephone: 0141 341 5330
Textphone: 0141 341 5347
Email: eileen.clarkson@hearingloss.org.uk