Piwko's looking to be picture perfect in Brighton

22 February 2010

With the first ever Brighton Marathon on the horizon, London photographer Robert Piwko is hoping to 'capture' some vital funds for Deafness Research UK.

Mottingham (in London) based photographer Robert signed up for the Brighton Marathon as a personal treat. But what started out as a 34th birthday present to himself has now developed into a full-blown fundraising campaign for Deafness Research UK!

“I registered for the Marathon quite late in mid-January to celebrate my birthday, so it has been a bit of a rush to prepare everything, “said Robert, “I am determined to raise as much money for Deafness Research UK as possible, so along with my Just Giving page, I am writing a special Blog and I will have an auction site up and running very soon.”

Anyone wishing to sponsor Robert can do so at www.justgiving.com/robertpiwko, and follow his Blog at www.rpjournal.co.uk. Robert is looking to raise a minimum of £1,500 for Deafness Research UK, and is focusing on a finish time between the 5 hours 36 minutes and 3 hours 45 minutes posted by his cousin. Robert’s family knows a great deal about the needs of deaf people and akin with so many others raising funds for Deafness Research UK this year, he has a personal motivation to succeed.

“I know how important it is for any charity to receive financial support,” continued Robert, “My wife works as a teacher with deaf students in a secondary school in south east London, which has been a big motivation for me. Every day I hear and discover such an amazing world, and real stories that are completely unknown to hearing people. The problems we have are totally different to those deaf people are experiencing on a daily basis, so I am keen to help in any way I can and raise as much money as possible!”

“All of us at Deafness Research UK would like to wish Robert every success in the Brighton Marathon,” said Sue Bowcock, Community and Events Manager for Deafness Research UK. “Clearly Robert and his family have a unique insight into the challenges facing people with hearing difficulties, particularly children. It’s only with the help of people like Robert that Deafness Research UK is able to continue our essential work into the causes of hearing loss.”

“I haven’t done anything like this before, so running a Marathon is a huge challenge,” admitted Robert. “I am learning new things every day and preparing my body for an extremely challenging mental and physical event. Deafness Research UK is doing amazing work too in looking to combat some of the issues deaf people face and transform their lives for the better, so I am looking to do some great work myself and raise as much money as I can prior to the big day. I am in the middle of a special training programme and updates will be posted on my blog in the run up to April.”

The Brighton Marathon will take place on Sunday 18 April and the route allows runners to take in much of Brighton and Hove with glorious coastal views giving everyone taking part a unique experience.

For further information, contact Sue Bowcock on 0207 679 8965 or e-mail her at

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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