Chris gets on his bike to Paris for Deafness Research UK

22 February 2010

When Oxfordshire's Christopher Phillips decided to help raise money for national charity Deafness Research UK, he decided that in order to achieve his ambitions, he would have to get on his bike!

Chris, 21, is taking part in the 500km London to Paris Bike Ride in May and while it is the first time he has participated in a fundraising event for charity, he had strong personal reasons for wishing to support Deafness Research UK.

“I spent a fair bit of my childhood in and out of hospital with a disease called cholesteatoma,” explained Chris, “and while it has left me partially deaf in my right ear, if it wasn’t for help from doctors, friends and family it could have ended up a lot worse. I am now looking to give something back and Deafness Research UK is the perfect choice.”

Deafness Research UK is the charity for the deaf and hard of hearing and exists to secure radical improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all forms of hearing impairment. Ultimately, it is the aim of the charity to find treatments and cures for what is a distressing and neglected disability. Relying solely on donations, it is only through the efforts of people like Chris that Deafness Research UK can continue to fund vital research.

Starting from London on May 30, the Chris will leave his home in Benson village and join a group of other fund raising riders as they cycle through the English countryside and over to rural France, with a finish in the romance capital of the world. The event is a fundraiser and not a race, so has been split into four stages in order to make the 500km a bit less daunting.   Even so, it is a big challenge to take on as your first fundraiser, but Chris has no doubts about why he is taking part.

“Deafness Research UK is working hard to help change the lives of the hard of hearing, including those with cholesteatoma. Every penny I can raise means so much, not just to me, but so many other people in need who Deafness Research UK is trying to help. I hope to raise at least £1,300. I am very excited about the ride, but as long as I can hit my funding target, my goal is just to get across the finish line!”

Anyone wishing to sponsor Chris can do so by visiting his fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/londontoparis2010chris . Chris is already well on his way, but all donations are welcome in preparation for the trip ahead.

The first stage of the ride will see Chris ride from London to Calais and once in France, the second stage passes from Calais to Abbeville, taking in some of finest in Gallic countryside. If Chris and his fellow riders have time to view the scenery, stage three will see them travel from Abbeville to Beauvais, following the course of the river Somme. Finally, stage four sees the big push on to Paris itself with a finish under the Eiffel Tower. Fortunately, Chris and the other riders can take a breather here and catch the Eurostar back home!

“All of us at Deafness Research UK would like to wish Chris every success in the London to Paris Bike Ride,” said Sue Bowcock, Community and Events Manager for Deafness Research UK. “Cholesteatoma is just one of the diseases that can lead to hearing loss and the more money we can raise, the more funding we can inject into vital new research.”

For further information, contact  0207 679 8965 or e-mail fundraising@deafnessresearch.org.uk 

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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