Sense
Official Coventry Half Marathon Charity
Sense is a national charity that has supported and campaigned for children and adults who are deafblind for over 50 years. There are currently 356,000 deafblind people in the UK and this number is set to increase by 60% to 570,000 people in 2030 with the over 70s most affected (74% of deafblind people in 2030).
Sense provides specialist information, advice and services to deafblind people, their families, carers and the professionals who work with them. We run services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and employ 2,000 people most of whom work in services directly with deafblind people. Our patron is HRH The Princess Royal. Further information can be found on Sense’s website – www.sense.org.uk
Deafblindness is a combination of both sight and hearing difficulties. Some of these people are completely deaf and blind, but others have some remaining use of one or both senses.
Causes of deafblindness include premature birth and exposure to rubella during pregnancy, which can cause babies to be born deafblind. Sense therefore supports MMR which has proven to be the most effective vaccination programme against rubella. Some genetic conditions such as Usher syndrome can also result in deafblindness. People can also become deafblind at any time through illness, accident or in older age. |
