March is Hearing Awareness Month

Hearing Awareness Month is all about putting a spotlight on hearing health and raising awareness for the experiences of 880,000+ New Zealanders who are deaf or hard of hearing. A big focus for the month is making listening safe – especially for Kiwi kids who are at risk of losing their hearing due to listening to personal devices on headphones for too long and too loudly.

The National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NFDHH) will continue to expand the Youth Hearing Loss Awareness and Prevention Programme in secondary schools throughout March 2020. This programme provides free hearing screenings to Year 9 students and educates young people about the risks of Noise Induced Hearing Loss.

There are many ways you can get involved this Hearing Awareness Month. What are you waiting for?

• Find out more about Hearing Awareness Month and the work of the National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Take 30 for Hearing Loss

Take 30 is about raising awareness for what it’s like to live with hearing loss. Hearing loss can significantly impact someone’s life 24/7. You are invited to walk in the shoes of someone with hearing loss for just 30 minutes during March.

Gather a group together for a morning tea or lunch and wear earplugs for 30 minutes – while carrying out the Take 30 activities.

• Find out more about the Take 30 Challenge for hearing loss, including how to register for your Take 30 Pack.

Show your support by donating to or volunteering for NFDHH

The National Foundation for Deaf & Hard of Hearing do not receive government funding – their programmes and initiatives rely on the generous support of our donors.

Your donation will help deliver vital programmes that will help to reduce levels of loss in New Zealand and advocate for better services and support for the 880,000+ New Zealanders who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

• Make a donation to the National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
• Find out about becoming a NFDHH volunteer.

Source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing website.

Aotearoa Bike Challenge: Let’s get more people riding!

The New Zealand Transport Agency wants to boost cycling all across the country again this summer. It’s a great time to ride bikes in NZ with tailored guidance and tips, a friendly workplace competition, and lots of great prizes on offer.

Join the Aotearoa Bike Challenge today! This is a fun, free challenge to encourage you and your colleagues to experience first hand joys and benefits of riding a bike. There will be lots of fantastic prizes on offer to tempt your team.

It’s all about participation – which teams and workplaces can get the most people to ride a bike for just 10 minutes or more? Organisations across the country will compete against each other to see who can get the most staff to ride a bike during the month of February 2020.

It’s not about who can ride the most kilometres, but who can encourage the most people to give bicycling a try. The teams which get the highest percentage of their staff riding for their size category will win.

There will also do a prize draw for each trip you ride. So the more you ride in February, the more chance you have of winning a prize. You can earn more chances at individual prizes for encouraging others to ride.

• Find out more about the Aotearoa Bike Challenge.
• Get handy tips on feeling more confident on a bike, including on buying and maintaining a bike. You can also get help to overcome a barrier to riding or to help boost your motivation!

This is also an opportunity to try out the cycleways in your area – contact from your city or district council for more information.