This October, Kiwis around the country will take the fashion rulebook and throw it out the window.
Clashing prints, colours and patterns will be proudly displayed around the country in efforts to get LOUD for children and adults with profound hearing loss who access sound through cochlear implants. Loud Shirt Day is back!
Our annual fundraising event returns on Friday, October 29th 2021 to encourage Kiwis to raise vital funds for us and the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme (SCIP) – as we are the only two charities in New Zealand dedicated to helping children and adults with cochlear implants learn to listen and communicate.
“Hearing loss can impact anyone at any time and cochlear implants change lives – the impact of this technology is profound,” says Dr Claire Green, Chief Executive at The Hearing House.
“It couldn’t be easier to show your support and help us continue to provide our life-changing services. Just put on the very loudest shirt you own and encourage your friends, whānau and co-workers to do the same to raise much-needed funds for Loud Shirt Day 2021!”
Getting involved can be as simple as making a donation. Individuals can bring a gold coin to take part in a loud dress-up day at school, businesses might hold a themed lunch, host a fashion show at daycare, or get the whole town/community immersed in fundraising.
You can even text LOUD to 305 and donate $3 to Loud Shirt Day to support all New Zealanders who access sound through cochlear implants
A cochlear implant is a surgically-implanted electronic device that restores hearing for those with profound hearing loss.
Hearing loss can be genetic but is also caused by infections and viruses. A cochlear implant is often the last and only viable treatment to give a person access to sound.
Public funding gives recipients access to cochlear implant technology but both charities depend on donations to deliver specialised support throughout each recipient’s lifetime.
All children accepted as candidates for cochlear implantation in both ears receive full public funding.
The Government's 2021 Wellbeing Budget increased the baseline funding for adult implants per year throughout the country from 40 to 120. The procedure isn’t covered by health insurance.
“The funding will dramatically reduce our waiting lists, which currently have 200 adults across the country accepted for and awaiting surgery,” says Neil Heslop, Chief Executive of the Southern Cochlear Implant programme.
“It’s an indescribable feeling for our patients having their cochlear implants switched on for the very first time,” he says.
However, the switch on is only the beginning of a person’s journey to access sound with cochlear implants.
“Recipients require intensive specialised support and therapy as they learn to process sound through their cochlear implants, and depend on our services throughout their lives,” says Dr Green.
“As our largest fundraising event of the year, Loud Shirt Day is critical to this work across both SCIP and The Hearing House”.
If you’re ready to get loud, enrol now as a team, individual, workplace, school or community at loudshirtday.org.nz
