Providing Opportunity for our Audiology students
Our mission at DMU is to empower our students to create a fairer society, alongside a commitment to widening participation and supporting students who are often the first person in their family to access higher education. We are committed to providing a first-class educational experience for all.
Healthcare students have typically been hardest hit by the rising costs of living and education. Audiology students are particularly worst hit, as they are not eligible for the NHS Learning Support Fund. However, they are still expected to do placements as part of their course: often unpaid within NHS trusts. We want to provide support to those most affected by this financial hardship.
Celebrating 20 years
This year we are celebrating 20 years of Healthcare Science (Audiology) at DMU, and as part of our anniversary year we have a number of initiatives we are hoping our alumni can support, including The Big Give:
For the first time we are taking part in The Big Give Christmas Campaign in order to support our current Audiology Students undertaking their mandatory 30-week placement.
Audiology Placement Students – An ongoing injustice
While the current inflated costs of living have been hitting all students, those training for medical professions have been hit especially hard. With a high number of contact hours during the week casual employment is often not an option; additionally, there is an expectation on students to do placements during their three years of study. These placements are vital to develop professional skills, time management, team working, leadership and management qualities.
We have a number of brilliant supporting businesses who provide paid placements around the country (and we always welcome more), but for the majority of the students, and those working for NHS Trusts, this placement is unpaid and can involve considerable personal expense in travel, accommodation and subsistence especially if the placement is not in Leicester or near to family or friends. Compounding this problem is the lack of access for audiology students to the NHS Learning Support Fund, which provides up to £5,000 grants to midwives, dieticians, dental nurses, physiotherapists etc.
It is extremely important that we are able to provide the monetary support for Audiology Students that require it. Financial stress and worry around the 30-week UK placement will not only affect the learning process and professional development of the individual but it also may affect the students physical and mental wellbeing.
We are currently fundraising to ensure that we can provide the support those students most in need require.
What is the ‘Big Give Christmas Campaign’?
The Big Give is an online platform that allows us to raise awareness on a cause of our choosing, raising both the awareness profile and monetary donations. For this year’s Big Give, we have secured £2,000 in match and Champion funding (where we were handpicked for additional match funding by Big Give themselves) but we are only able to accept this full amount if we raise £2,000 or more in ‘giving week’.
This falls between the 28th November and the 5th December 2023.
There is no minimum or maximum donation. The first £2,000 we receive will be doubled by our match and champion funding allowing any donations to go further. While it is something of a cliché to talk about donating a coffee, the small cost of a coffee will make a real difference to the appeal.
Each individual will have separate needs, and we would adjust the support based on requirements. As an average, one student would receive a stipend of £500 so with the above target in mind we hope to support eight students.
All donations can be made here. If you have any further question or wish to speak with us more on this and ways in which you can support please feel free to email Paisley Tomlinson at paisley.tomlinson@dmu.ac.uk
Our Ongoing work in Wankaner, Gudjarat
Students and staff have been travelling to Wankaner, Gudjarat since 2016 to conduct a ‘hearing camp’, involving conducting assessments and where appropriate to fit hearing aids. Our Trip in January 2023 conducted 199 assessments, leading to 117 hearing aid fittings, to recipients aged from 6- 95. Fortunately, much of the hardware needed comes from generous donations of new and refurbished equipment from NHS Trusts, and companies including Amplifon Hearing, Signia, Puretone and Rayovak. Those students and staff who travel do so as volunteers: donating their time and skills. Generous support in Gudjarat is provided through the Devdaya Charitable Trust and Shanta Foundation provides accommodation, delicious food and opportunities for cultural enrichment.
Students travel to India to help fit hearing aids for more than 100 people (dmu.ac.uk)
The exciting news is that in order to increase the number of trips and the impact we can make, we are looking to open up this opportunity to our alumni, to volunteer to be able to join this fantastic and lifechanging project. If you might be interested in travelling with a future trip, more information will be available on the Alumni Hub, or contact our Fundraising Officer, Paisley Tomlinson, at: paisley.tomlinson@dmu.ac.uk.
The Alumni Hub
The Alumni Hub is the perfect space for you and others to connect both personally and professionally with former classmates and others in your field of work. It can give opportunities to showcase and talk about your career journey and progression, along with offering mentoring opportunities and support, advertising job adverts and/or applying for jobs you may find.
The Hub is a great place to keep up to date with all the things that the university has to report on, with regular updates from Development and Alumni Engagement, Business and Enterprise and ways in which you can get involved with the university if you wish to do so.
Register today and if you’re an Audiology Alumni why not join the newly created Audiology Network where we hope to create a community of our Audiology Alumni from the past 20 years, bringing professionals together all working in the same field. Click here to gain direct access to the network once registered.
Posted on Friday 3 November 2023