Day of events and activities showcases new council service

Councillor Billy Sheerin, Assistant Cabinet Member for Adult Care, meets Bengie the guide dog with owner Trudi Garner

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Residents met guide dogs, had a go with a braille kit and had their hearing screened during a day of activities designed to help people with hearing, eyesight and speech problems.

Visitors also took parts in carers’ assessments and found out about college courses and social activities as part of the event, organised by the council.

As well as giving people information about help available locally, the day was designed to promote a new council drop-in service to help people who have hearing and/or sight loss problems with day-to-day tasks such as reading letters and making phone calls.

The sessions, which are free to attend, take place every Friday from 9.30 am to 12.30pm in Room G11 (next to Bean Café) at the council’s customer service centre, office and library building, Number one Riverside.

Specially trained volunteers and staff, who are all fluent in British Sign language (BSL), can help people make sense of communications from the bank or other organisations and get things like benefits and tax issues sorted for them over the phone.

Council support worker Tracey Sheils, said: “When somebody receives an official letter, they are often dealing with complex issues which need to be resolved over the phone, but these simple day-to-day tasks can be extremely challenging for someone who is deaf or has hearing problems. These new drop-ins are designed to help people with these issues and are one of the few services of its kind in this area.”

Councillor Iftikhar Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Adult Care at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It was great to come and meet residents and take a look at the huge number of services available to support people with sensory problems. These events clearly show that having a problem of this kind is no barrier to leading a full life.”

Resident Nadeem Chohan does not have any sensory problems but took advantage of the carers’ assessments which were taking place on the day.

He said: “My mum is getting old and has multiple health problems, so I look after her during the day and then someone else takes over while I go out to work in the evenings. I didn’t realise that I qualified for any kind of help with this. Getting a break from caring would be a huge help and is definitely something I will look into.”

Anyone who cares for a friend, neighbour or loved one and would like to find out more about having a carers’ assessment and tapping into help which is available in the area, can contact the Carers’ Resource on 01706 925808.