Travels raise £ 200 for deaf

From: Huddersfield Daily Examiner, UK - May 6, 2003

By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HOW far could you go on public transport in West Yorkshire?

That was the question answered by charity traveller Gavin Macpherson.

Gavin, 56, secretary of the Huddersfield Hard of Hearing Fellowship, raised more than £200 for the deaf through a sponsored one-day expedition.

"I had a good trip, successfully getting to Wetherby and back, which is about as far as you can go in West Yorkshire," he said.

He used six buses and four trains to make the distance.

The cash raised will go to the National Association of Deafened People.

Gavin, of Wooldale, Holmfirth, received a cochlear implant after he started to go deaf in his 30s.

"I became involved in the National Association of Deafened People a couple of years ago, and felt that it was very relevant to the particular problems I face as a result of having been brought up in the hearing world and then lost my hearing," said Gavin.

It is now Deaf Awareness Week around the UK, drawing attention to the needs of people who have lost their hearing, particularly adults who grew up in a hearing world.

The National Association of Deafened People is particularly concerned with helping people overcome the trauma which inevitably results from going deaf.

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