My name is Sophie Williams. I am currently a final year PR & Media student at Sheffield Hallam University. When faced with the ultimatum of having to write a 6,000 word dissertation or opting to take part in an applied project, I decided that essays were already consuming my word count riddled life. So instead, I decided to join the BTA for my final year and help devise a PR strategy that would appeal to a new target audience and hopefully raise awareness of who the BTA are and what they do.

The BTA are often linked to an older target audience, because hearing problems are usually connected to old age. However, this is not the case. I have endured two major ear operations, both of which left serious detrimental effects on my hearing. From the age of 13, I have had to deal with hearing loss, it hasn’t always been easy. My right ear no longer contains any of the tiny bones that make your ears function due to a serious ear disease that had surrounded and consumed them; they had to be removed as I was in risk of far worse conditions had the disease been left to fester.

I no longer have any hearing in my right ear. The recovery period was very hard for me to deal with as I struggled to cope with the loss of hearing, I found myself becoming very easily frustrated and short tempered and this was having a knock-on effect with my relationships with friends and family. After a while I came to terms with my new level of hearing and what I hear now seems normal to me. The only time I get those feelings of frustration and anger is when I become ill with a cold or flu and my hearing is lessened due to my sinuses.

Although I haven’t experienced tinnitus as a permanent condition, I can understand how frustrating it can be for a human being not to be able to have full access to all of the senses that they were born with. That is why when the opportunity arose for me to work with the BTA, not only did I want to because of the great work this particular charity have already achieved, but because I felt connected to them, hearing loss is a sensitive subject, be it through tinnitus or other medical conditions.

Young people are experiencing tinnitus without even realising what it is. The headphone generation are engaging loud volumes, directly into their ears, completely unaware of the permanent damage they could be doing. Music fanatics attending large scale concerts and music festivals are also at risk.

My project revolves hugely around making sure that they are made aware of what tinnitus is and how it can be prevented and now that I have explained a little bit about me and why I am doing this project, I will post regular entries to keep you all updated as to what I am doing in order to reach out to the ‘Headphone Generation’, raise awareness amongst them and educate them of the effects of tinnitus and why it is important to prevent the condition.