Support the Malawi Hearing Project

In Malawi, children have a high incidence of childhood deafness, but there are only a handful of audiologists and ENT surgeons in the country.

Children sometimes wait years for an operation, severely disrupting their ability to learn. Traditional hearing aids are too expensive and even if they’re donated, replacing the batteries and travelling to clinics is completely unaffordable.

During the Covid pandemic, a simple over the ear headset was developed in Cambridgeshire that allowed children with hearing loss to keep learning without interruption. Working in partnership with audiologists and teachers in Malawi, it soon became clear that the cheap and rechargeable device would also be suitable for low-income, rural settings.  

Reaching children in need

In 2024 a Malawi and UK project team delivered ear camps to remote communities in Malawi, assessing, treating or referring more than 800 people in a week – including with the headsets. The aim was to evaluate the most sustainable way to deliver remote ear and hearing care and develop a plan for ongoing treatment and management tailored to the low resource environment.

Your support will enable the team to put this plan into action: expanding hearing care to children with little access to healthcare and helping as many as possible to continue their education.

By working in partnership, it will also grow the knowledge and skills of both NHS and Malawian healthcare staff to deliver the best possible care to their patients.

I’d like to give…

• Single donation

• £5
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£10 could help us work with Jordanian healthcare professionals to provide life-changing surgery for refugees with facial deformities in Jordan.

£15 could help us work with partners in Uganda to speed up the diagnosis of children with cancer to improve their outcomes and save lives.

Your donation could buy a solar powered charger to run a headset for up to 25 years.

Your donation could buy a headset and microphone kit to enable a child with hearing loss to hear and communicate.

Your donation could help provide training and teaching resources for healthcare staff and teachers for long-term, two-way learning and support

Enter your own amount

Donate by post

Please send a cheque made payable to ‘Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (CGHP)’ to Box 126, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ.

Get in touch

If you would like to fundraise for CGHP, are a company looking to partner with us, or a donor considering making a major gift, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Please contact our Fundraising Lead, Hannah on hannah.wilson@cghp.org.uk. 

Find out more about the Malawi Hearing Project.

“Although we strived for excellence, resources aren’t currently available for patients to receive the same hearing healthcare as in the UK. I found it very difficult to think how different their pathway would be if they lived in Cambridge, especially the children.”

Rebecca Silkstone, Trainee Clinical Scientist (Audiology) at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH)