A service that supports thousands of people with hearing loss across Cumbria is to close because funding has ran out.

Bridging the Gap holds drop-in sessions in communities all over the county, and also runs the HEAR centre in Carlisle.

It does all this for as little as £25,000 a year.

Yet despite desperate efforts to secure funding for the 2018 period, its latest bid to the Big Lottery Fund has failed.

It means that, unless they are thrown an urgent lifeline, the countywide service will close at the end of December.

There are now fears that many elderly and disabled people will be left without the help and support they need, with hearing aids that no longer work or unable to operate them properly.

There are also concerns that those who do seek help will leave the county's audiology services struggling to meet demand.

Bridging the Gap, part of regional charity Caritas Care, supports about 5,000 people a year across north, west and south Cumbria.

It is largely run by volunteers, aiming to take pressure off the NHS by servicing hearing aids in local communities. As well as the bigger towns and cities, they also provide services to people who are housebound or isolated in some of Cumbria's most rural areas.

In addition, the HEAR Centre in Carlisle allows people to trial out other listening aids and get advice and support.

Bridging the Gap was funded by the Big Lottery for 12 years in a row, but demand for grants has quadrupled in that time and their bid for money to support them in year 13 was unsuccessful.

As a temporary stop gap, Cumbria Community Foundation provided some funding last year, but the service had to be scaled down.

Now a fresh bid to the Big Lottery has again been turned down and the organisation has reached the end of the road.

That is despite demand remaining high, with some drop-in sessions getting upwards of 100 people turning out.

Dale Tomlinson, head of adult and community services at Caritas Care, said many isolated, elderly people rely on the service.

"Our service has been particularly good at getting to people in remote communities. Realistically people will now be faced with having to rely on relatives to get them often long distances to access services.

"It is not huge amounts of funding that we need.

"What's ironic is that, if you take into account the extra strain this is going to place on audiology and other community services, it will probably be far more expensive," he said.

"There are so many of these preventative projects that are being starved of funding by central government.

"It's really sad for our volunteers, some of who have done 10 years for us and many of who do not even claim expenses. That enormous amount of goodwill is now going to be lost."

Workington MP Sue Hayman, who has been working behind the scenes to try and help, said she is very concerned.

"People are just not going to get the help and support they need. Audiology do not have the time or the resources," she said.

"They already help 5,000 people a year and our population is growing older, so demand is only going to get higher.

"It just doesn't make any sense. For me this is a service that's of critical importance to the local community."

She said that the austerity programme has left local authorities and others struggling to fund projects, so demand on the Big Lottery Fund and other grants organisations is at an all-time high.

She added: "I find it so frustrating when we can see how valuable this is. When you think about the money this is saving the NHS - it's so short-sighted to take funding away from organisations like Bridging the Gap. These people are so committed to the work they do. It's such a shame."

Mrs Hayman added that, in her area, many people will now have to get to the audiology department at the Cumberland Infirmary.

"A lot of people just won't go to Carlisle so won't get a hearing aid sorted. It's a lack of support for disabled people," she added.

Mr Tomlinson said that as a medium-sized charity, Caritas Care often misses out on the small grants but also doesn't have the same clout as national charities when it comes to funding bids.

In the past, the Big Lottery has proved valuable. As competition has increased, they have looked at ways to make Bridging the Gap self-sustainable long term to help secure funding. Yet even that has not been enough to secure short term support.

He added: "It's a great sadness for us. Hearing services have been part of Caritas Care going right back to the 1930s. Bridging the Gap has existed for 20 years and it's been called that for about 15.

"We always struggle with the fact that if you ask service users, audiology, GPs, they say it's a really good service, but when we come to ask for money its difficult to get that across."

Although there are just a few weeks remaining, the service's two remaining staff are looking at whether they can find a way to continue what they and the volunteers do in at least some parts of Cumbria.

They hope to secure enough funding to run limited drop-ins potentially in the Eden and west Cumbria areas.

A spokeswoman for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “The Trust has always worked closely with Bridging the Gap and we are continuing to work with them in light of the recent news in order to explore how we can ensure we provide the same level of hearing aid services to our communities in the future.”


Geraint Howell, who himself suffers from hearing loss, has volunteered with the Bridging the Gap for 10 years.

In that time he has supported some of the most vulnerable people to improve their hearing - and ultimately their quality of life.

"After I retired I felt it was an opportunity to contribute something to my local community," he explained.

"Essentially we provide a service that dishes out batteries on behalf of the NHS, as well as re-tubing hearing aids and giving advice to new users.

"Quite a lot of our clients are really quite elderly and getting to grips with a hearing aid can be a challenge. It takes more time than the audiology service at the hospital can give them. As volunteers we have more of an opportunity to give them that time."

Mr Howell and other volunteers also work in the HEAR Centre, in Long Lane, demonstrating equipment such as amplified telephones, TV listeners and doorbells that they may find useful.

"We don't sell anything. Essentially it is a try before you buy centre as we give them the opportunity to take equipment home through a loan system. If they like it, they can then buy it elsewhere," he said.

He knows how important the service - which even supports housebound people as old as 100 in some parts of the county - is to their clients, and said it was a great shame that nobody else could see it.

"Nobody is going to die as a result of this closing but there are big implications, particularly for those living in far flung communities.

"Most of our clients are elderly and are already in danger of isolation. That is quite a big risk," he explained.

"Mostly the service is staffed by volunteers so we aren't paid for our time, but there are implementation costs.

"Every single volunteer needs to be CRB checked for example. There are travel costs and modest premises costs.

"That's one of the frustrations. As a society we have come to rely on a lot of voluntary services rather than statutory services, which are being squeezed. What isn't recognised by the politicians is that even voluntary services have costs," added Mr Howell.

"We live in an increasingly regulated society and that generates costs. Where is that money to be found? There are some big questions we need to be asking about the whole system."

Volunteers are working with the Bridging the Gap staff to see if they can keep some sort of service going.

Their clients - including 80-year-old Mary Prentice from Cockermouth - desperately hope it can be saved.

She has suffered from hearing loss for about five years and now relies on a hearing aid. But, being housebound, she cannot get out easily to obtain replacement batteries or for routine maintenance.

Mrs Prentice relies on Bridging the Gap staff to come to her house every quarter to service her hearing aid - and without that support she risks being left abandoned with a device that no longer works.

"When I was more mobile I could get out but now I need someone with me all the time. I can't just get dropped off somewhere with my walker, the need to escort me the whole time," she said.

"Without this service I would have nobody. I'd probably have to resort to getting people to shout at me again.

"And I'm not the only person who doesn't have a full support network. There will be a lot more out there like me."


A farewell lunch is being held at Carlisle's HEAR Centre tomorrow to mark the end of Bridging the Gap.

It runs from 1pm until 3pm and is a chance to say goodbye to long-standing volunteers and clients.

The centre itself will close its doors for the final time on December 21.