AN AUDIOLOGY charity is celebrating 25 years of helping residents in Conwy, Denbighshire and Flintshire hear clearly.

Hearing Aid started life as Voluntary Support Service in 1994.

Members of the group, which has 17 volunteers, receive training in routine care and maintenance of hearing aids. They also carry out home visits to people who are unable to visit the drop-in sessions.

The 25th anniversary was marked with an afternoon tea at the Kinmel Arms, St George.

Suzanne Tyson, chairperson and principal audiologist said: “It’s all about making services accessible and helping empower people to manage their own health in their own homes.

"The work ties in with the health board’s wider vision of providing care closer to home, and we’re now looking at new ways which we can make accessing services easier.”

The charity is looking to reach out to other organisations where they can support more people with impaired hearing, starting with nursing and care homes across the three counties.

Aelwyn Evans, who has volunteered for more than 11 years with the group, helps run drop-in sessions at the libraries in Denbigh and Ruthin.

He said the group’s work benefitted both patients and the audiology service at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

He said: “As for people living in Denbigh and Ruthin, it saves a trek to the hospital and makes everything more convenient for them. We also do house calls to people who can’t get to hospital or a drop-in clinic.

“People come because their hearing aids might not be working efficiently, and while we can’t do anything technical, often cleaning them or putting new tubes in solves the problem."