HSE International ISSUE 111 | Page 28

RoSPA bta AWARDS 2017: CALDERDALE COLLEGE Helpline Appeal Our helpline is great - we want to make it even better. To do this we need your help. Every year we hear from thousands of people who have no one else to turn to. That’s what makes our tinnitus helpline so special. Our tinnitus helpline provides free, independent advice to people who need our support. When someone needs to talk, we can make them smile. At other times, we might save someone’s life. Our helpline has been on quite a journey and has evolved over the years. We currently answer 3,500 helpline calls every year but we want to reach out to more people with tinnitus. An estimated 10% of the UK population have tinnitus, with one in ten of these suffering severely. This means up to 651,000 people could benefit from a call to our helpline. We have a vision for our helpline and we would like you to be part of that vision. We want to employ a dedicated helpline team. We want to expand the helpline hours to evenings and weekends in the next 12 months. We launched our freephone helpline in 1999 - the only dedicated tinnitus helpline in the world 1999 Present Future Our small team of 14 currently take helpline calls in addition to our varied roles during office hours. How your donation helps our callers £15 is the average cost of a helpline call £49 would cover the overheads associated with running the helpline for a day £129 could pay for specialist training through the Helplines Partnership for one staff member It’s really important for people to receive accurate, personalised information about tinnitus to enable them to manage their condition successfully. We want to improve our offer of support through: employing dedicated helpline staff, expanding helpline hours, attending specialised training and investing in new technology. We need your help to do this. 28 18 HSE HSE INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL