Norfolk Deaf Association Blog

Tomorrow Thursday 30th October sees the lanch of the NDA’s Ear Miles Campaign at the Forum in Norwich. It is an opportubity to help with cost of running the vital service of the Listen Here! Bus.

 ‘Give me a stylish hairstyle that is easy to maintain’
Newspaper article courtesy of Norwich Evening News
EMMA HARROWING
08 September 2008

Frances Pidgen is a volunteer for the Norfolk Deaf Association based on Silver Road. The charity relies on its valuable volunteers and we felt that Frances richly deserved to be pampered for all of her hard work. So John Thaxton-Key at Transformer treated her to a new look. By EMMA HARROWING

Frances Pidgen, 60 from Norwich spends her time visiting people who are deaf or hard of hearing to provide advice and talk through any problems, as well as offer encouragement for new hearing aid users. She is also involved with the Norfolk Deaf Association’s (NDA) latest project - the ‘Listen Here!’ mobile clinic which has been launched to enable greater access to facilities and friendly support for local deaf people by visiting locations all over Norfolk.

As if this doesn’t keep her busy enough, Frances has also just started working with the NDA’s deafness awareness team, training the county’s businesses. She is studying sign language and she has already achieved level one standard and is awaiting the results of her level two exam.

Frances is married with two grown up children and she is really looking forward to the arrival of her first grandchild in January.

With such a hectic lifestyle, Frances would love a stylish new look that can be maintained without a huge amount of effort.

The makeover

The cut: John says: “Frances has had the same hair style for a while and is keen to seize this opportunity for a complete re-style. I feel that at the moment her cut is rather heavy on top, so I want to address this by improving the proportions and creating a more balanced look.

“I will be introducing layers throughout the top, to give height and volume. I will also shorten the sides to create the illusion of more length at the back. A stronger, more definite fringe will also be added keeping the look soft.”

The colour: Transformer colourist and stylist Kelly says: Frances feels her hair is a little too light and therefore we will be toning this down by introducing a luxurious chocolate brown base. Interest will be added with blond and caramel highlights. The overall effect will be naturally stunning.

The verdict:

John: I think both the new cut and colour work wonderfully. By improving the balance of the cut, Frances now has a sophisticated but very modern style which suits her perfectly. The best thing is this look will be so easy to maintain - simply blow dry, maybe a little hair wax and go!

Frances: I am really delighted with it. The cut is something new for me and I am very impressed with the difference in colour. Following John’s advice I think it will be really quite easy to look after and keep looking good which is great. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and being pampered - I felt like a celebrity being styled and photographed!

John’s Short Cuts: How to have great hair without trying too hard.

With most of us girls leading extremely busy lifestyles, there isn’t always the time to preen your hair as directed by the beauty bibles each season. Trouble is, we still all crave fashionable, glossy locks that look salon finished every day! Good job John is here to offer some helpful hints to take the stress out of achieving beautiful tresses.

Prevention rather than cure. You may have guessed it, but the best way to avoid hair which demands hard work is to keep it in optimum condition. Good hair days come easy when you are working with shiny, healthy hair. Use a quality shampoo and conditioner every couple of days and book in to have your hair trimmed every 6 weeks.

A good cut is essential for low upkeep locks. There will be a low maintenance style to choose each season that will only take five minutes to tease into place before you head out the door. Depending on your hair this can range from long loose layers to variations of the bob.

A fuller fringe is a great way to minimise the work for maximum style. Big, blunt fringes can also often be blow dried to the side for variation, or upside down to add volume.

Make sure your hair style suits you - even really short cropped styles may not be low maintenance if they don’t suit your hair type. Very thick or curly hair is often easiest to manage at chin to shoulder length.

Sling out the styling tools - straighteners, curling tongs and other appliances not only use up precious minutes in the morning, but can also damage the hair which means it will need cutting more often.

Pay attention to your hair to save time later. Buy products that will work for you. If your hair is coloured, invest in a colour shampoo. If it is fine pump it up with volumising products. If you notice your hair becoming dry, slap on some intensive conditioner, rubbing through the length of longer hair right to the ends.

A simple up do can cover up a bad hair day - try a classic low ponytail for an easy but sophisticated look. Just be sure to run a little product through the top strands of hair to ensure a sleek finish.

Hair accessories can be really useful too - twist up into place and finish with hairspray - done in a few seconds!

Another year has passed. Staff changes have continued to keep everybody on their toes. Our manager Donna Youngs decided to concentrate more on her Graphic Art skills of her work. We were sorry to see her leaving as we had benefited from her skills in this area.

With a change in positions title to that of director, we are pleased to announce that Adrian Soskin of whom we have high hopes for the future has taken on the position.

The highlight of the year was our Liz Nobbs project of a new mobile unit  known as the ‘Listen Here! Bus’, financed by the National Lottery’s Peoples’ Millions Award. After successfully moving through the various stages we were delighted to reach the Norfolk final and over the moon to win it. Our grateful thanks to everybody involved in achieving this , from the staff and volunteers right down to the supporters who took the trouble to fight for us by voting as we had over 2,000 more votes than our competitors.

In addition to providing additional support for hearing aid users in Norfolk the Listen!Here Bus also provides us with welcome publicity in furthering the Association’s work. However we cannot sit back as the funding only provided the cost of the bus and financial support for the first 12 months of its work. We will need to find at least £25,000 a year to meet ongoing running costs. This is another way that our readers and supporters can lend a hand.

The Norwich Deaf Community Centre open 5 or 6 days a week, continues to attract ‘New Blood’ to it’s various meetings. Should you have time to kill as they say then why not pay a visit to one of the various user groups and see what they have to offer. Also watch the notice board for new activities that we are hoping to offer in the near future.

Yet again our grateful thanks to the numerous individuals and groups who have generously donated to our funds and events during the year. Also to the volunteers and helpers who support our group efforts including fundraising, an area where help is always needed.

Peter F Gosse

This year’s show was held at Blicklng Park and was a first for the NDA.

Dennis and Cym Cant teamed up with Bill Jones to support the Listen Here! Bus. It was a fanatstic PR excercise with lots of new enquiries 

Next year we shall be attending many more venues throughout the County.  

 Our NEW Listen Here! Mobile Unit

Director Adrian Soskin, sponsored Face Paint

 The finished article raised £42 (some say it is an improvement!!)

Children obtaining information

Wednesday 7th May 2008
at
The Forum, Norwich
From 10am until 4pm
Come along and see…….

Norfolk Council on Deafness’
Information stands & Equipment information

Services available for adults & children who are
Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The Norfolk Deaf Association’s Listen Here! Minibus
Tinnitus information and Hearing Dogs
Face Painting - Story Telling - Competitions
BSL Tasters - Deaf Children’s Presentations