Collaborating colleagues run the London Marathon for Deafness Research UK
22 February 2010
A regional manager from Beckenham in Kent is hoping that undertaking this year’s London Marathon in aid of Deafness Research UK will be a real achievement, both for himself, the Charity and the colleagues he is running with.
Ricky Dummer, 26, works for PC Werth, a company who supply hearing impaired equipment, so he has been aware for a long time of the important work undertaken by Deafness Research UK and was keen to help the charity in any way he could.
“Taking part in the London Marathon has been an ambition for a number of years,” said Ricky, “and I feel that completing it will be a real personal achievement. I don't have a target time to run it, but I am looking to raise at least £1,500 for Deafness Research UK.”
Ricky is running the Marathon together with two other colleagues, who are also looking to raise money for Deafness Research UK and by doing so, give hope to the millions of people up and down the country who live with a hearing impairment.
Sue Bowcock, Community and Events Officer for Deafness Research UK, said: “Taking on a challenge like the London Marathon is not easy, so like Ricky, many people choose to take part with friends and work colleagues. The Marathon organisers always offer charities like ours a great deal of support, as they recognise how important the fundraising by people like Ricky is to us. Everyone at Deafness Research would like to wish Ricky and everyone else from PC Werth taking part an enjoyable day and one filled with fun and fundraising.”
For further information, contact 0207 679 8965 or e-mail
Notes to editors
About Deafness Research UK
- Deafness Research UK is the country’s only charity dedicated to finding new cures, treatments and technologies for deaf, hard of hearing and other hearing impaired people.
- The charity supports high quality medical research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all forms of hearing impairment including tinnitus.
- The Deafness Research UK Information Service provides free information and advice based on the latest scientific evidence and informed by leading experts. The Information Service can be contacted on Freephone 0808 808 2222
- For more information on research into deafness, tinnitus and other hearing conditions, log on to the website at www.deafnessresearch.org.uk where you can access a wide range of information. Alternatively you can e-mail Deafness Research UK at
- One in seven people in the UK – almost nine million people - suffer hearing loss.
- Deafness Research UK was founded in 1985 by Lord (Jack) and Lady Ashley of Stoke.
- In January 2008, Action for Tinnitus Research (ATR) was linked with Deafness Research UK under a uniting direction order under section 96(6) of the Charities Act 1993.
Scientific & medical advances
Since its creation in 1985, Deafness Research UK has awarded over £10 million in research grants to secure radical improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all forms of hearing impairment.
The advances we have been responsible for include:
- the development of the Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) test to enable doctors to identify hearing impaired babies at birth.
- research into more effective cochlear implant devices and services, including assessment, fitting and rehabilitation procedures for children.
- improvements in signal processing for digital hearing aids in order to help improve speech discrimination and understanding, particularly in noisy environments
- the isolation of genes responsible for many forms of inherited deafness including the most important breakthrough – that mutations in the Connexin-26 gene cause a significant proportion of congenital and childhood deafness
- research into preventing or repairing inner ear damage, including funding researchers who were the first to report that hair cells in the mammalian balance system can regenerate
- the discovery that an overproduction of the neurotransmitter glutamate can be linked to tinnitus, a finding which could lead to new drug treatments for the condition.
Further Deafness Research UK achievements can be found at www.deafnessresearch.org.uk and following the ‘achievements’ button. A direct link follows here: http://www.deafnessresearch.org.uk/Scientific%20%26amp%3B%20medical%20advances+2213.twl
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