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Supporting Deaf people and those with acquired hearing difficulties to live independent lives
Here at WNDA we have a jam-packed calendar, full of activities, social groups and events suitable for people of all ages with all levels of hearing loss.
Introducing BSL in schools - Educational Professionals forum
*Postponed - New date TBC*
Online. Or in-person at The Deaf Centre, 32 Railway Road, Kings Lynn, PE30 1NF
FREE workshop supporting schools & and teaching staff introducing BSL in schools.
BSL will be available as a GCSE Option from 2025. In preparation for the introduction of BSL to the curriculum, WNDA is offering a series of workshops for schools and teachers supporting the creation of inclusive communication environments, which will enable mainstream primary and secondary school learners to develop an understanding and appreciation of the language, whilst enhancing communication for children and young people with ALD, hearing and speech difficulties, and concentration issues.
There will be an opportunity to meet with BSL Tutors and an interactive sensory storytelling session to introduce BSL at primary and nursery stages.
This is an in-person and online event. Participants who would like to join us at The Deaf Centre, please confirm by email to info@wnda.org.uk
BSL Interpreting will be available
Introducing BSL in schools - Parents forum
10:30am. Friday 22nd March 2024
Online. Or in-person at The Deaf Centre, 32 Railway Road, Kings Lynn, PE30 1NF
FREE workshop introducing BSL as a curriculum choice to parents.
Students will soon be able to learn BSL in schools as part of their GCSE's.
To support both students and parents WNDA is offering a series of workshops that will explain what this means, how this will work, and how learning BSL will benefit students in a multitude of ways including improving concentration as well as overall communication skills.This workshop is open to parents of children of all ages, as BSL will be introduced at primary school level as well as high school.
This is an in-person and online event. Participants who would like to join us at The Deaf Centre, please confirm by email to info@wnda.org.uk
BSL Interpreting will be available
WNDA Parents Day
1:30pm. Saturday 23rd March 2024
The Deaf Centre, 32 Railway Road, Kings Lynn, PE30 1NF
WNDA Parents Open Day
Join us at the Deaf Centre for a fun, informative open day suitable for parents & carers of children with deafness.
Find out more about how we can support your family, understand your child's hearing loss, access our audiology services, and meet our wonderful children's services team.
You can also sign up to our FREE Family BSL Course that is starting soon...
FREE Family BSL Course
Date & Time TBC
The Deaf Centre, 32 Railway Road, Kings Lynn, PE30 1NF
FREE 6-week course teaching basic BSL to families
A FREE 6-week course that is open to all family members and carers of D/deaf children.
Learn about a total communication approach to language - Improve communication within the family, increase well-being and explore the rich Deaf culture & history.
Kindly funded by Norfolk Community Foundation and KLWN Borough Council
Meet the Author - Heidi Swain
10am. Saturday 27th April 2024
No8 The Old Bookshop, Bridge Street, Downham Market, PE38 9DB
WordFest 2024 continues...
We're delighted to welcome back Sunday Times best-selling author Heidi Swain to No8 The Old Bookshop, as part of our year-round WordFest Downham Market festivities.
Meet the author, gain insights to her writing process, and hear excerpts of her new book. We'll also have copies of Heidi's new book available to buy, with a chance to get your copy signed...
This is a FREE event, with refreshments provided.
Downham Market WordFest Week
16th - 22nd September 2024
Various locations, Downham Market
Join us for the second Downham Market WordFest week!
Save the date for this years Downham Market WordFest week.
We'll have Meet the Author events, book launches, poetry events, the return of our popular bookish quiz, and much, much more!
Keep following for more information, or join our Facebook page for the latest updates
Recent Events
2024
Police & Crime Commissioner
The Police & Crime Commissioner for Norfolk visited The Deaf Centre on Tuesday 16th January, to discuss involving the Deaf Community in developing services, training police about Deaf awareness, and so much more. It was extremely interesting & useful.
Thank you to everyone who took part and gave feedback!
Healthwatch Forum
On Tuesday 16th January we welcomed HealthWatch Norfolk to The Deaf Centre, where many of our service users shared their lived experiences of Health & Social Care.
This was a great opportunity for our Deaf community and those with acquired hearing loss to share their experiences and help make the changes to the services that will make life easier for themselves and those they care for.
Just another event that demonstrates our commitment to raising awareness of the impact of Deafness on accessing statutory services.
We'll look forward to holding more such events in the future!
World Book Day 2024
Beverley and Sarah had the best day with the students and staff at The Clare School, Norwich today.
They visited every class in the school with Windy and Misty. The students were engaged and loved our storytime sessions with sensory props…and showed us their fantastic signing too
Big thanks for inviting us!
Women's Voices - International Women's Day Forum
Anna spent the day at GoogleAcademy London with MediaTrust.co for #womensvoices24, on #Internationalwomensday -A fantastic event providing expert advice and guidance about our branding and campaigns. This will all help to ensure we are able to reach people who need our services
WNDA and 29 other charities were selected from a pool of 120 applicants for this amazing opportunity, which included professionals from BBC, ITV, Google, and all the major advertising and PR agencies.
2023
Christmas at WNDA
We celebrated Christmas 2023 in style, with Christmas meals and parties with all our various support & social groups. We all had the best time!
We were even included as recipients of the Radio West Norfolk Toy Appeal, where generous shoppers donated toys for us to hand out to our young service users. We're so very grateful for all the amazing donations!
Merry Christmas to all our friends, volunteers and supporters, from all of us here at WNDA.
See you in the New Year!
Christmas Day swim
Hunstanton
Our fabulous audiologist Bex and her wonderful mum braved the icy North Sea on Christmas Day, and raised a whopping £1,238 for WNDA!
We're so very proud of them, and grateful to everyone who kindly donated. These funds will go a long way to helping us support our community.
Toy Like Me day!
Saturday 25th March 2023
We all had such a great time at Toy Like Me Day!
It was a busy day, with loads of teddies having their hearing checks and having hearing aids fitted. All the children (and the adults!) loved seeing how everything works, and really enjoyed playing in our purpose built childrens room. We can't wait for the next one!
Thank you to everyone who came along for the fun :-)
Deaf Awareness Training
CITB Construction College
We had a fun few days talking to people at CITB about Deaf Awareness and BSL.
They learnt about the anatomy of the ear, the causes of hearing loss, how to better communicate with those with hearing loss, as well as how to finger-spell their own names! A fun & informative session for all.
The course took place at their offices, and was structured to fit around their schedule so as not to affect their usual working day.
We have availability to run courses for your organisation, so get in touch to find out more...
We celebrated the Platinum Jubilee in style!
We had an absolute blast celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, with parties galore!
First our CHAT clubs enjoyed a party with live entertainment, dancing and an outstanding cake - Many thanks to Morrisons for their contribution & joining in the fun with us.
Then it was the turn of our BSL coffee morning group, who celebrated with an array of activities, games and a delicious lunch!
Thank you to everyone who came along to join in the fun, and to everyone for their efforts in making our celebrations happen.
2022
James Wild MP took on the London Marathon!
2nd October 2022
Our local MP James Wild took part in the 2022 London Marathon to raise funds for local charities, including WNDA.
We are extremely grateful to James for supporting our charity.
James completed the marathon in an impressive time of 3 hrs 37m and 15s! And raised a total of £926 for us!
As well as raising these much needed funds, he also helped raise awareness of our community and the vital work we do.
Thank you so much to James for his support!
WNDA Does Strictly Come Dancing
THE FINAL!
19th March 2022
Our first ever dance competition for those with hearing loss has come to a glittering end
After all the months of practicing and rehearsing it was amazing to finally crown the winners of our First Ever dance competition for those with hearing loss!
All of our couples who participated blew us away with their skills and beautiful dance moves. It's a shame there could only be one winner.
A great time was had by all, and we can't wait to do it all over again in the Autumn.
Watch this space for more details!
A
WE WON!! Best Customer Care 2022
We are so proud to have been crowned the winners of the Best Customer Care award at this years Mayor's Business Awards!
We were up against some very stiff competition, which makes this award even more appreciated.
The winners were announced at a glittering ceremony at The Kings Lynn Corn Exchange on 4th March which was attended by Anna - General Manager, Sarah - Head of Retail, Rebecca - Audiologist & Donna - Press Officer.
This award is a reflection of the hard work and dedication by our team, volunteers, customers and supporters, so we'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without you this would not have been possible.
THANK YOU!
Fundraising event - Yve walks for WNDA
5th February 2022
Fundraising taken to the next level
Our wonderful volunteer & champion Yve took on her biggest challenge yet - walking for 24 hours along the North Norfolk coast!
She walked from Cromer to North Pickenham, battling the worst the weather could throw at her, all in an effort to raise awareness of our vital work and much-needed funds.
We're so very proud of Yve and everything she achieved!
You can still support her by donating funds, or can support us in many ways... All support is greatly welcomed
2021
Hearing Support Volunteer refresher training - Round two
14th September 2021
The second group of our wonderful volunteers joined us at The Deaf Centre for some Hearing Support refresher training (and a delicious 'welcome back' lunch). It is so heart-warming to see how dedicated our volunteers are to supporting their community, and to have the centre abuzz with activity again! With the return of our clinics, support groups, social groups & activities, our volunteers really are invaluable - We couldn't do what we do without them!
If you'd like to find out more about how you can support the invaluable work we do here at WNDA -get in touch!
Hunstanton Community Day
1st September 2021
We were delighted to be able to attend the Hunstanton Community Day last month.
Held in the newly-refurbished Town Hall, organisations from across the county were in attendance providing refreshments & support to the local community.
As our CHAT Clubs & Hearing Support services have just started back up in the town, it was the perfect time for us to meet the community and spread the word about the invaluable services we offer.
To find out more about how we can help, or to let us know about other opportunities to reach those in need, get in touch
Deaf Awareness Training - QEH
2nd September 2021
Members of our team, Anna, Bex & Sarah, provided Communication Awareness Training to the Patient Engagement Team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
"We were so pleased to join the first group of staff at the QEH to deliver our communication awareness training. We believe that learning should be experiential and the feedback from the group was great!"
Our training courses are available to all organisations and businesses. Please get in touch to book yours.
Photography Exhibition - Communication
23rd - 30th October 2021
WNDA held a photography exhibition on the theme of Communication.
Communication has been a major focus for us all during this pandemic, and for those with hearing difficulties it has been particularly challenging.
This exhibition gave everyone the opportunity to show what communication means to them through photography. It was open to everyone; You didn't need to be a professional to take part.
The exhibition was participated in by, and attended by, so many supporters we really were blown away. All proceeds raised were to support the invaluable work WNDA carries out.
Some of the best images will also be used in our annual fundraising calendar.
Huge thanks to everyone who supported us!
Deaf Week - Tesco
24th September 2021
Tesco Hardwick recently held their annual "Deaf Week" event in store, and our amazing volunteers Colin & Doreen were more than happy to play a part.
They were in store on Friday at our display stand in the entrance foyer to hand out leaflets and spread the word about the services available through WNDA, as well as to provide information & advice to any shoppers who required it.
Tesco also very kindly donated £250 to support our work - Thank you Tesco!
Hearing Support Volunteer refresher training
29th July 2021
It was so lovely to invite the first group of hearing support volunteers to the centre today, for some top-up training with Anna and Chris.
We hope to be back up and running all of our outreach services very soon.
Thank you to our volunteers….we couldn’t do it without you!
If you'd like to find out more about volunteering - or other ways you can support the invaluable work we do here at WNDA -get in touch!