Iconic buildings across Northern Ireland will be lit up on 27th June, to celebrate Deafblind Awareness Week 2023.
The following buildings will all be flooded with purple lights after dark to raise awareness of deafblindness.
- Ranfurly House Dungannon, Burnavon Cookstown, Bridewell Magherafelt
- Craigavon Civic Centre Mezzanine
- Clock Tower at Banbridge Town Hall, Armagh and The Gaol
- Antrim Civic Centre, Mossley Mill
- Ballyclare Town Hall
- Strule Arts Centre
- Enniskillen Castle
- Belfast City Hall
- Causeway Coast and Glens headquarters.
- Newry Town Hall and Down Leisure
Deafblind Awareness Week runs from 26th June – 2nd July and the charity Deafblind UK is encouraging us to ‘tune in’ to our sight and hearing during the week so we can all be more deafblind aware.
During Deafblind Awareness Week, Deafblind UK will be sharing easy ways to identify sight and hearing loss and encouraging people to get their eyes and ears regularly checked.
Nikki Morris, CEO of Deafblind UK said: “Thousands of people have sight and hearing loss and many don’t realise it yet. But they could be missing out on doing things they enjoy doing or finding things harder than they need to. We’re delighted that these iconic venues are helping us to raise awareness during Deafblind Awareness Week.”
Deafblindness is a combined sight and hearing impairment. It doesn’t always mean no sight or hearing, although for some people this is the case. It affects around 450,000 people in the UK and it affects everyone differently, some people need to make small changes to the way they go about everyday life and some people will rely on others for communication and getting about.
Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Thomas O’Reilly, said:
“I am pleased that Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is illuminating Enniskillen Castle and Strule Arts Centre, Omagh on 27 June 2023 to raise awareness of Deafblindness.
The Council is committed to improving the accessibility of our services, as well as levels of inclusion across the District. One area of how we can achieve this is by improving understanding of different disabilities and the light up will help to raise awareness of deafblindness.
I encourage everyone to engage with Deafblind UK during the week to learn more about available support, identifying sight and hearing loss and the importance of getting your hearing and sight checked.”
There are lots of different ways you can get involved in Deafblind Awareness Week – from sharing our videos to learning how to make life easier for people with sight and hearing loss. But whatever you do, please tune in to your own sight and hearing this week!
To support Deafblind Awareness Week you can download online resources here and follow #DeafblindAwarenessWeek on social media.
