What we do?

Lollipop brings families of children and young people with any degree of hearing loss together through regular free social activities and gatherings. Lollipop offers opportunities for children & young people with any degree of hearing loss and their families to meet and build friendships with others, with whom they share their experiences of deafness. We achieve this through providing regular FREE social activities in a relaxed and informal environment.

We offer a wide range of activities in order to provide something of interest to everyone. Through such activities we aim to encourage members to try something new, express themselves freely and realise their true potential ad in doing so build confidence, increase self esteem and develop self identity. Lollipop also raises awareness of hearing loss and it's implications amongst the wider community.

Activities include:
• Specialist creative workshops including Art & Craft, Music & Film

• Sporting activities including Wall Climbing & Tennis

• A seasonal gardening and design project which takes place at our communal garden Lolliplot, the perfect environment in which to relax and catch up with friends.

• Aside from the above specialist activities, members also have the opportunity to meet at our larger Social Gatherings which include regular trips to attractions such as F1 Racing, Tenpin bowling, Waterworld and Quasar.

When and Where:
Lollipop Activities take place in York, North Yorkshire and are open to children & young people with any degree of hearing loss aged 0-19 residing in the York & District area.

We gladly welcome new members from areas across North Yorkshire who have limited access to a local deaf peer group. Activities usually take place during the school term; on weekday evenings and during the day at weekends. Members are notified of all up and coming activities provided for their age group approximately two weeks in advance.

Lollipop gatherings are the perfect opportunity to gain more understanding and experience of deafness and its implications. This can help bring more confidence to the family as a whole.

If you would like any further information on Lollipop or are interested in becoming a member please contact us, details are on the right of this page.

Imagine a world of silence.....

Imagine a world of silence……

No matter how hard you may try,
can you truly imagine it?

The truth is that deafness is isolating.

For those children & young people who are born deaf, deprivation of sound also means deprivation of language. For a deaf child the process of language development is a long slow process. This means that many deaf children & young people have delayed language and this has obvious effects on social, emotional and educational development.

Sadly for many deaf and hearing impaired people this also means dealing with feelings of exclusion, the inability to participate fully and much frustration. But deafness today does not need to be so isolating. After all, 1 in 7 people in the United Kingdom have a hearing impairment of some degree & 1 in 4 children experience hearing loss at some time in their life.

Lollipop was established in 2004 to help combat such isolation and to offer social support to children & young people with hearing loss and their families.

It is a surprising fact that 9 out of 10 children with a hearing impairment are actually born to families with no previous experience of deafness and most of them attend their local mainstream schools.

Inclusion into local schools means the deaf children and young people have local friends who provide good language models and help with language development. However, for many they are the only child with a hearing loss in their school or family environment and this can therefore lead to isolation and problems with deaf identity.

This is where Lollipop can benefit such children and their families.