Belfast Marathon for Action Deaf Youth

Myself, Jessica and few friends and family are running the team relay in this years Belfast Marathon to raise money for Action Deaf Youth a non profit charity dedicated to improve the quality of life for young deaf people in Northern Ireland. They provide a range of mentoring, training and volunteer services and events to many deaf and young people from all over Northern Ireland.

Our son Lochlán was born in July 2022 and was diagnosed as profoundly deaf in both ears soon after. As a hearing family with no hearing loss experience it came as quite a shock and we had no idea what way it would impact Lochlán or our family.

Fast forward a few months and before his first birthday Lochlán had cochlear implant surgery and is now doing better than we could ever had hoped.

Like everything it didn't come without its challenges and this is where Julie and action deaf youth came in. They provided so much help and support from days out, introducing us to other family's in the same scenario as ourselves and providing classes to help with sign language.

We have come to realise that unfortunately without the likes of action deaf youth there are very little available in Northern Ireland for the deaf community in particular the youth. Through raising money we will be helping provide support for more children like Lochlán and their families and help Action Deaf Youth continue the amazing work that they do.

All donations welcome and a big thank you,

Stevie, Jessica & Lochlán

https://actiondeafyouth.co.uk

A registered charity in Northern Ireland (NIC102041) and with the HMRC (XR41413). Registered as a Company Limited by guarantee in Northern Ireland No. NI619842