bid services

News — bid services are ‘in the pink’

bid services is today announcing the launch of its ‘In the pink’ project, a programme of information and discussion sessions which will improve awareness of a range of health and well-being issues for deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deafblind women. The project successfully gained £9,194 of funding from the National Lottery’s ‘Awards for All’ scheme which provides funding for local community projects. The launch event will take place at 7pm on the 10th June at the Deaf Cultural Centre, with drinks and light refreshments provided. During the evening, interested parties will be consulted on what topics they would like to learn more about so that the programme can be tailor made to meet the needs of the group.

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Sessions will be held every 2 weeks up to December 2009 and led by two volunteers, Anita Sadler and Diane Debney. Anita and Diane are experienced group leaders who have been running a Women’s Health Group at bid services for the past five years. It is hoped that the sessions will enable deaf and hard of hearing women to have a wider knowledge of vital health related issues which mainstream information streams cannot provide due to language and cultural barriers.
Anita and Diane said: “We are glad we now have funding to support our aims and this will improve the range of activities and information the group can offer. In the past we have arranged successful activities such as day trips and fashions shows but now this money will give us the opportunity to do so much more in the area of health and well-being.”

Kathryn Dolby, Volunteer Co-ordinator is glad that the funding supports women with a hearing loss. She said: “The Award for All funding has given the Women’s Health Group an opportunity to expand the role that they have previously been providing and to pass on more information to women to improve their health. The‘in the Pink’ group will enable women to access a good support network and share similar experiences. This will help them to support each other and increase their confidence in looking after their own well being.”

The philosophy of the women’s health group is:

1.    We feel it is important to help and encourage women to think about their health and lead a healthier lifestyle.

2.    We aim to provide an encouraging and interesting environment where women can participate in activities and presentations which promote a healthier lifestyle. We aim to improve awareness of health issues, particularly understanding terminology related to health.

3.    Our objectives are to increase our audience so that as many women as possible have the opportunity to attend and improve their knowledge and encourage cultural diversity within the group and ensure that there are no cultural barriers to attendance.

4.    Access to health information has not always been available to people with a hearing loss or who use sign language as their preferred method of communication.   ‘In the pink’ will provide activities and information that is accessible for all women to promote health and well- being.

Published 3rd June 2009