What we do

We rebuild connection, companionship, and confidence through trained hearing dogs, practical and emotional support services; transforming the lives of people who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Close up of a woman looking happy wearing a hearing aid

At Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, we understand that deafness and hearing loss affect so much more than just someone’s ability to hear.

Invisible and often isolating, hearing loss can affect every aspect of someone’s life, from their independence and relationships to their sense of safety and mental health.

That is why, in 1982, we began training our highly skilled assistance dogs and now offer a range of other peer support services, too. Through these clever canines and personalised support, people living with deafness and hearing loss can rebuild connection, companionship and confidence that transforms lives. You can find out more about the history of the charity on our history page.

A man sat on a sofa reading a book and looking happy while his spaniel sits across his lap

For more information and support for hearing loss please go to our Support for you page.

How we help

Anyone, at any age, can begin to have issues with their hearing. Although technology like hearing aids can help, we know that the solution to living well with hearing loss is not one size fits all.

So, we empower each person who comes to us to find the solutions that work for them by:

  • Creating carefully matched hearing dog partnerships
  • Providing emotional and practical support, information, and guidance
  • Collaborating with other organisations to improve policies, encourage best practice, and raise public awareness of deafness and hearing loss.
A group of happy looking hearing link services volunteers, stood together outside smiling at the camera

Achieving our mission

  • We collaborate with the people we support, our volunteers and our staff to ensure our services are as helpful as possible, always shaped by the lived experience of deaf people and are continuously improving
  • Our peer-to-peer collaboration is always open, as we believe this is the most effective way to reach new people needing support and maximise our impact
  • We place the values of connection and companionship at the heart of our charity
  • We collaborate with other organisations to increase our shared impact in helping people with deafness and hearing loss
  • We are digitally enabled and make decisions based on data
  • We never undervalue the trust our supporters place in us and so we carefully measure and evaluate the effectiveness of what we do.