Hearing Dog Friendly Awards

Hearing dogs are registered assistance dogs and as such should be afforded the same access to public places as guide dogs. With the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) now law, it is even more important for cities, towns and service providers to show they are compliant with the regulations.

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People holds an annual Hearing Dog Friendly challenge to recognise and encourage good practice.  It’s an opportunity to publicly acknowledge and thank people who are welcoming hearing dogs, and a way of encouraging others to follow suit. 

We received many nominations in 2007. The widest variety of establishments to date were in the running for the awards including hospitals, a dental practice, airlines, shops and theatres. It’s reassuring to see that so many towns, cities and service providers are taking DDA regulations on board and helping to improve the quality of life for deaf people by ensuring public places are accessible and staff are friendly and welcoming.

As with the previous years the nominations fell into two categories, town/city and service provider. Judges awarded gold, silver and bronze certificates to shortlisted nominations, with one outright winner in each category. In 2007 Sittingbourne in Kent was victorious in the town/city category and the London Palladium took the honour in the service provider category.

Due to 2008 being the Year of the Assistance Dog, we are suspending the Hearing Dog Friendly Award in favour of the Dog Star Awards, which will be jointly presented by all five AD(UK) charities. For more information about Year of the Assistance Dog click here.

Town/city 2007

Overall winner	Gold award	Silver award
Sittingbourne	Hull city	Merseyside

 

Glen Tallett, with his hearing dog Milly, presents the winning 2007 Hearing Dog Friendly Award for Sittingbourne to Mayor Cllr John Morris.

Service Provider

Overall winner	Silver award	Bronze award
London Palladium	Le Monde, Wolverhampton	Rusts Supermarket, Prestwood
Gold award
The Grand Theatre, Blackpool	Active Age Centre, Liverpool	Cafe Met, Stockport
Newcastle General Hospital, Diabetes Centre	Stella Books, Monmouthshire	Brinkburn Centre, Newcastle
Inverclyde Royal Hospital	Salvation Army Church, Salisbury
	Eastern Airways
	Fenwicks Food Hall, Newcastle

 

West End star, and winner of the BBC hit  show ‘How do you solve a problem like Maria?’ Connie Fisher accepts the London Palladium’s 2007 Hearing Dog Friendly award  following their victory in the Service Provider category. The award was presented by Annette Aldridge, with her hearing dog Denzel.

Caroline Ashby, practice manager at Kempston Dental Practice accepts their Gold hearing dog friendly award from Susan Cardwell, with her hearing dog Twinkle

Captain Roger Beresford and cabin attendant Penelope Purvis accepts Eastern Airways silver Hearing Dog Friendly Award which is presented by Ian Joyce, with his hearing dog Hettie, following their flight with the airline.