A state-of-the-art facility helping those affected by hearing loss – built with the aid of a £120,000 grant from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – will be named after one of the charity’s most loyal supporters, when it is officially opened next month (April).
The Ear Foundation in Sherwin Road, Lenton, Nottingham, supports deaf children, young people, adults and their families in making better use of the latest hearing technologies, to develop communication skills.
It’s new £700,000 extension, the SoundSpace facility, will enable it to triple the number of people it can help (rising to 3,500 annually); double the amount of professional training offered through the Ear Foundation’s family, education and clinical services and research programmes; and will see the number of full-time employees rise from 11 to 18, with other jobs safeguarded.
D2N2 – the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – gave a £120,000 business support grant towards the venture.
Ear Foundation Staff at the Handover of their new Soundspace Facility in February
Soundspace will be officially opened on Wednesday April 22, before an invited audience. The new site will be named The Sherman Centre, in memory of the late Marjorie Sherman OBE, a long-time benefactor of the Ear Foundation, whose family continues to support the charity. Mrs Sherman’s daughter, Rosalyn Springer, will name the building on the day.
The AGM (annual general meeting) of the Ear Foundation will be held just before the opening ceremony.
D2N2’s grant to the Ear Foundation came through its £5million Unlocking Investment for Growth programme, which provides grants supporting capital investment for projects which directly promote new jobs and skills
Unlocking Investment for Growth (UI4G) is funded by the UK’s Regional Growth Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. UI4G grant awards are given by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership‘s Investment Panel, chaired by D2N2 Board member Peter Gadsby. The aim of the fund is to create long term sustainable jobs.
UI4G is now fully committed and is no longer accepting applications. Grants already approved will create over 400 new jobs and safeguard a further 350 existing jobs. The programme has inspired business owners in the D2N2 area to invest over £20million, alongside the grant support of £4.7million, to grow their businesses. The programme is managed for D2N2 by EMB Ltd.
For further information on the Ear Foundation see website www.earfoundation.org.uk and for more on the work of D2N2 see www.d2n2lep.org
