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Crowthorne Women's Institute calls for hearing loop because members cannot hear meetings

By Becky Barnes
November 06, 2012

A community group which has brought together women in the village for 92 years says it is losing members because they are unable to hear at meetings.

Crowthorne Women’s Institute (WI) is calling upon Crowthorne Parish Council to install a hearing loop at the Morgan Centre in Wellington Road, but has been told it is not a priority.

Secretary Sylvia Smallbone, 75, from Crowthorne said: “Hearing is a major issue as our members are in their 60s to their 90s. Members are leaving because they can’t hear.

“I am most surprised the parish council did not see it as a disabled issue.”

The WI wrote to the parish council after three members left in two years and others are unable to enjoy the talks and singing put on each month.

Sylvia, who has lived in the village since 1974, said: “We were told ‘sorry you can’t have it and you have to pay £100 to have a PA system’.

“We can’t afford £100 a year.

“The WI is the essential meeting place for original Crowthorne people, a place to have homemade cake and afternoon tea. We feel very strongly a hearing loop must be installed.”

Sylvia said the WI has been ‘putting pressure’ on the parish council for two years but has been told they can’t do it before refurbishments and redecoration.

She added the WI has been told it will cost around £2,000 to £3,000 to install a comprehensive PA system.

She said: “We can’t get enough money together, but we feel it is so essential.

“It is a public place hired out for meetings and yet they’re not willing to do it.

“They have a ramp and disabled toilets and special doors. We feel quite strongly about it – there should be a hearing loop too.”

The 40 members meet at the Morgan Centre as there is a two-hour parking limit at Crowthorne Parish Hall.

They have been fundraising for a hearing loop and have raised around £500 through bring and buy sales.

Sylvia said: “It is no mean feat. Our members also pay a membership fee.”

Adele Swadling, Crowthorne Parish Council clerk, said: “The WI wrote to us and asked us to obtain on their behalf quotes to put in a hearing loop system at the Morgan Centre.

“The parish council is looking at installing a hearing loop as part of refurbishments but due to funding problems there are other priorities such as redoing the toilets.

“We have not budgeted for the hearing loop within this financial year, but it is something we are looking at.”

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Most recent user comments 34 of 34

#timwinstanley

Bit like ostriches then.

parlovero, reading
09/11/2012 at 11:11

The fine people of Crowthorne are indeed the very model of dignity and integrity - unlike those heathens from Wokingham and Reading.

It is indeed to Tim's credit that as His Honorable Worship for Crowthorne he has been able to hold back the tide of filth and smug-mongering from these very ne'er-do-wells who sully the clouds and soil with their despondent and haughty airs.

Winstanley, Bracknell
08/11/2012 at 17:47

Excitable lot these Crowthornians then. Unfortunately I was otherwise engaged so it must have been anybody else.

parlovero, reading
08/11/2012 at 17:04

I think you will find that your name is Parlovero not Parlevo too Parlevo.

Crowthorne was excited Tuesday simply because you passed through it. Do not underestimate your importance.

Timothy Jefferies
08/11/2012 at 14:52

#timwinstanley

I bow to your knowlege he is apparently indeed the Yorkshireman not the dog but i don't spend my time watching childrens television so i am not an expert.

I think you will find that your quote is Latin not Italian. My quote is illigitimi nil carborundum and i stick by it. You still haven't said what excited Crowthorne so much last Tuesday.

parlovero, reading
08/11/2012 at 14:44

My name really is Timothy Jefferies and I really am the self appointed Mayor of Crowthorne. As a famous Italiian once said:

"Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur"

Timothy Jefferies
08/11/2012 at 12:37

Wallace is the Yorkshire man in question and it's just his name - so wrong again.

Nom de plume - Pen name

Nom de guerre - War name

You're not wrong because you hold different views or opinions - blimey what a dreadful bore it would be if we all thought the same.

As CP Scott, legendary editor of The Guardian, is quoted as saying "Comment is free, but facts are sacred"

Winstanley, Bracknell
08/11/2012 at 11:57

#timwinstanley

What exciting thing happened in Crowthorne last Tuesday at 10.54. I'm all agog to know what could cause such interest.

If I'm wrong on so many fronts because i hold a different view to you then i am delighted that is an accolade indeed.

Wallace was also an honourable man who fought all his life for his people. Today as a nom de guerre he is a cartoon dog belonging to a cheese eating yorkshireman.

parlovero, reading
08/11/2012 at 11:48

#I Speak True - I now see where I've gone wrong, because you're posts...now THAT is comedy. I can only admire the master at work and hope one day to aspire to the heights you've scaled in the service of humour.

p.s. - it's quite enjoyable to see how wrong you are on so many fronts. I'd be happy to meet with you to prove that Tim and I are indeed different people - but then if you followed these posts with any dilligence you'd recognise that. You're also incorrect about the nom de plume.

Winstanley is my nom de guerre - taken from the 17th Century radical Gerrard Winstanley. A man of brave conviction and fool-hardy dedication to the cause of freedom of spirit before man and god. And a dab hand at farming too.

Anyway - don't let me keep you from your Sudoku and custard creams.

Winstanley, Bracknell
08/11/2012 at 10:08

#timwinstanley

Grazie mille, lui e molto gentile. J'e parle aussi Francaise.

How slow of me not to realise you are one and the same person under two nom de plumes. The keeper and the parrot. Keep it up old beans you deserve yourself.

parlovero, reading
08/11/2012 at 08:49

Parlevo, I agree you did pass through the Kingdom of Crowthorne, specifically last Tuesday at 10:54, and Yes it was the best decision you ever made.

Timothy Jefferies
07/11/2012 at 18:58

Jabba wah ning chee kosthpa murishani tytung ye wanya yoskah

Paul Daniels' reattached finger.
07/11/2012 at 16:22

Mi piacerebbe avere un nome pretenzioso per inviare commenti sotto

Winstanley, Bracknell
07/11/2012 at 16:10

eh? This is what I initially suggested and got shot down. Why can LarryS win the ladies but not me?

Paul Daniels' reattached finger.
07/11/2012 at 16:09

Parlovero - let's hope the WI ladies and the Parish Council read this and sentire vero!

LarryS
07/11/2012 at 15:26

#larryS

Agreed. That was the type of thing i had envisaged as i know someone who is profoundly deaf and can only hear through a loop in a crowded room. It was purchased throuh the RNID and has been a great success. If the hall is to be completely refurbished then a full loop system would be virtualy costless as the hall would have to be rewired anyway.

parlovero, reading
07/11/2012 at 14:58

Parlovero - don't rise to the bait my friend just ignore.

As for your comments re. a portable system, however, you should think again. A lovely yellow portable loop can be had for a mere £100 - a figure I am sure the WI could easily raise given their renowned skills - and could then be used at other locations and loaned to other groups. If the hall refurb, when it comes, includes a permanent system then the portable loop will always find a grateful home somewhere else.

Spending £100s of public money to install a system in a hall that is due to be refurbed is daft and would leave the PC open to understandable criticism.

LarryS
07/11/2012 at 14:51

#winstanley #tim

Should i ever wish to move it would not be to your kingdom of Crowthorne. I once passed through it and that was the best decision i ever made. I'm sure for you both it is a lovely place but don't you get fed up with seeing those big red brick walls round you every day and as for the siren every monday morning. Send me mad.

parlovero, reading
07/11/2012 at 13:20

ooh, ooh, me too Tim, me too! Technically I'm Crowthorne anyway.....with love.

Winstanley, Bracknell
07/11/2012 at 13:01

Parlevo old bean...Wokingham most definitley is NOT Crowthorne. However if you do wish to move here to our magnificent Kingdom then please contact my good self and, as I am the Mayor of Crowthorne, I will consider your application in line with your various comments and consider whether it would be beneficial for the Community to accept. Best Regards.

Timothy Jefferies
07/11/2012 at 11:39

My dear #parlovero - where have my opinions suggested that I don't take disability seriously? How do you know I don't suffer with one myself?

I'm not wrong in suggesting you're from Reading - you state it in your location. How can I be in the wrong if you state otherwise?

I'm more than capable of accepting differing viewpoints - I often do - and the indignation came from you first.

You may find my musings at odds with your highly held opinions - but practise what you preach. I'm entitled to comment as I see fit and you don't have the right to not be offended. And vice versa.

Disability is a serious issue, one that this government is hell bent on stigmatising with it's anti disability ideology. I have been affected by disability issues throughout my life - but don't lecture me on what matters are to be taken seriously. Life's too short and should be filled with laughter and irreverence - not pofaced drudgery and supercilious sermonising.

Winstanley, Bracknell
07/11/2012 at 11:35

Has anyone got any popcorn?

Paul Daniels' reattached finger.
07/11/2012 at 10:33

#winstanley

Wrong again. I don't live in Reading I live in Wokingham. I am well aware that there are those on GR who do nothing except attempt to put spanners into occassionally serious subjects. Disability is, contrary to your opinion, an extremely serious thing for those who suffer and "Tools" like you who seem to think it ok to proffer your tenuously formulated opinions don't make it any easier.

It is obvious from your abusive tone that you are indignant about being taken to task on the fact that you are incapable of accepting any other point of view.

Finally, I don't "stew" in anything especially inane comments by those who don't even understand what humour is let alone have the ability to bypass it. You carry on alleviating the boredom but find a kindergarten to do it in.

parlovero, reading
07/11/2012 at 08:13

Just sit all the hard of hearing on the front row and put who ever is speaing closer to them.

Time4tea
06/11/2012 at 18:05

#parlovero - get off your high horse, no one is mocking disability, deafness, or the WI. You're in Reading so know nothing of what Tim and I are about - maybe take the next turning of the Humour Bypass before you start spewing your indignation about the place.

Tim and I regularly post absurdities on this site to alleviate the boredom from pompous stuck up tool's that go looking for a fight.

It's clear you're stewing in your own juices at anybody who offers even a fraction of difference to your highly held, but tenuously formulated, opinions. Stew away baby, stew away.

Clart!

Winstanley, Bracknell
06/11/2012 at 16:29

#timothy jffries #winstanley

Strange how you find deafness such a humourous form of disability and the WI such a laughing stock. Apart from making inane comments what contribution do you actually make to life and the community around you.

parlovero, reading
06/11/2012 at 16:08

"Secretary Sylvia Smallbone, 75, from Crowthorne said: “Hearing is a major issue...Members are leaving because they can’t hear."

Her comment has been published completely devoid of context. How about the last part of her sentence?

Members are leaving because they can't hear...when MC Smallbonez and the JerryAKtriK Crew start wrecking the decks - I heard them last summer in the Devils Highway underpass. Tim they lit it up with Body Bag's Tek-8 (Murdabag remix).

It's good to see them keeping it real too with their 1210's and Stanton mix-table- Old school style ladies - Rinse It!

winstanley , Mitt Romney's Gimp Dungeon
06/11/2012 at 14:32

Yeah it's not only the Rig they want though Win as they're happy starbursting to Quentin Hiatus and Ghast's frenzy on their 34" Subwoofers whilst donutting the rec in their Corsa's...they also want the Morgan Centre to continue to be the main hype engine for many more underground raves, they've been doing this here since the embryonic stages of jungle and long may it continue.

Plush.

Timothy Jefferies
06/11/2012 at 13:46

Ill thought out? I was trying to meet halfway. My thought is that we should do more with less. OK you don't get your Rolls Royce... be happy with a Ford KA. Just because someone is disabled, doesn't give them the right to all of the money. I wouldn't invest big money in a capital outlay for a building targetted for reburbishment in the near term. At least I suggested an interim solution rather that sticking two fingers up and running to the local rag.

Paul Daniels' reattached finger.
06/11/2012 at 12:59

#paul daniels

"A cheaper smaller solution for the limited number of hard of hearing members".

Two points come out of this ill thought out coment. 1. It will not be just the WI who use the facilities and have deaf members. 2. Do you also think it would be a good idea to only make smaller cheaper ramps for those in wheelchairs i.e. only 12 inches wide surely they could happily struggle getting the other wheel up the step and think of the money they would save.

Our local Church has had a loop system fitted and they do not have two halfpennies to rub together. A quality loop system is not expensive especially if there is already a speaker system in the building.

parlovero, reading
06/11/2012 at 12:34

The WI ladies say they want a hearing loop but I have it on good authority that in fact they are seeking an enormous PA rig with which to party like they just don't care as the Crowthorne Hustlers Soundsytem.

I caught them at Carnival this year and they certainly gave Norman Jay a run for his money - especially when they dropped Bass Fist by Baron Skanky.

Phat!

winstanley , Mitt Romney's Gimp Dungeon
06/11/2012 at 11:49

A portable hearing loop solution is surely the answer here. Money's tough, so why the desire to splash out on a state of the art loop prior to the building being refurbished? A cheaper/smaller solution for the limited number of hard of hearing members, no?

Paul Daniels' reattached finger.
06/11/2012 at 11:11

Messing with the WI will have serious consequences! mark my words....

Timothy Jefferies
06/11/2012 at 11:06

This is very much a disability issue and i believe the Parish Council could be taken to task over it. The disabilities legislation for public building clearly states that it is the responsibility of owners of public buildings to ensure the faciltity is suitable for those with disabilities. If the toilets are a higher priority have they been made accessible for wheelchair users? Is there a ramp or level access for wheelchairs? A loop system is as important as any of these but sadly those who are not deaf or know the problems caused by it do not seem to care.

The RNID have a lot of very useful equipment available for individuals such as personal loop systems. I would suggest asking the RNID to get involved now.