UK charity The Ear Foundation to close, but new group expected to form

"Rising costs and overheads, increased competition for charitable grants, and cuts to training budgets in health and education have had a substantial impact on our charity finances," reads the closure announcement on The Ear Foundation website: https://www.earfoundation.org.uk/

The Nottingham-based charity explains that even the sale of its residential building, Marjorie Sherman House, was unable to prevent the closure, with staff shifts, service changes, and increased grant applications all failing to improve the financial situation. "We have had to take the difficult decision to sell the remaining Ear Foundation property and cease trading in a positive, solvent and ethical manner, enabling the charity to leave a financial legacy," the Ear Foundation team points out.

The charity has provided support, information, and advice through a comprehensive range of services: hearing technologies, families, education, adult hearing, children's assessments, and research. "The Ear Foundation is proud to have been a driving force in many of these changes," says the organisation on its website.

Phoenix charity to form

But the closure announcement also reveals that members of the present staff will be starting a new charity from the ashes of The Ear Foundation.

"Much has changed since The Ear Foundation opened its doors. Yet even with the latest technology and all that it offers to children and adults with hearing loss, there continues to be a need for person-centred, family-friendly and practical support and training. It is for this reason that a number of current staff are setting up a new charity to provide services which will continue to make a difference to the everyday lives of deaf children, adults and their families." News on this new phoenix charity is expected this March.

Source: The Ear Foundation