Congratulations!

4/22/2010

Local Housing Association, Magna West Somerset, has good cause to celebrate after a recent visit by the RNID.

The RNID’s ‘Louder than Words’ charter is considered a prestigious benchmark of best practice, and one that local housing association Magna West Somerset (MWS) is proud to have achieved.

Sally Huggins, Magna’s equality and diversity policy officer, explained, “Often people who are deaf or hard of hearing can feel very isolated, especially when it comes to important issues such as housing, claiming housing benefit and understanding other services available to them.”

MWS underwent the audit recently by the RNID and passed with flying colours!  The audits took place to see if Magna had reached the standard required to gain the “Louder than Words” Charter.  This is a nationally recognised award which guarantees to deaf and hard of hearing people throughout the UK that their needs are taken seriously.

Sally continued, “Many of the Louder than Words standards are relatively easy and cost-effective to implement and have a profound impact on deaf people’s experiences.”  Some of the standards Magna has introduced include deaf awareness training to all frontline staff, detailed deaf awareness literature and information for all new staff and installation of appropriate equipment.

The housing association clearly demonstrated, during the inspection, its commitment to providing the best levels of service to deaf and hard of hearing customers and employees.
The RNID offers a range of services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and provides information and support on all aspects of deafness, hearing loss and tinnitus.