Howgate Shopping to ‘turn down the volume’

To celebrate Deaf Awareness Week 2021, The Howgate Shopping Centre in Falkirk is joining in the ‘Turn Down the Volume’ initiative and will turn off piped music in the Centre each Thursday morning. The move was welcomed by local charity, Forth Valley Sensory centre which supports local people with sensory loss.

This is in addition to the existing ‘Sensory Sundays’ at The Howgate which were designed to help customers who might struggle with background music or loud noises as part of wider campaigns such as ‘Purple Tuesday’ and Access for All..

Margaret Foy, Marketing Manager at The Howgate said:

“‘The Howgate Centre is committed to supporting the Access for All campaign and host a Sensory Shopping day on the first Sunday of every month.  As we emerge from lockdown, it’s vital we support all customers to ensure they can enjoy the centre to shop, meet friends or access services so the Mall music will be turned off every Thursday from 9am – 12pm to support customers who find this distressing.”

The announcement was welcomed by Jacquie Winning, Chief Executive at Forth Valley Sensory Centre.

Jacquie commented:

“We have worked with The Howgate staff on a number of occasions and applaud their stance on helping people with disabilities, especially sensory loss, welcome in Falkirk. Accessibility remains an issue for many blind, partially sighted, deaf and hard of hearing people all across Scotland and lockdown has been especially hard on this already isolated group.

“This year, Deaf Awareness Week has the theme ‘coming through it together’. It doesn’t always feel like that for people with hidden or not immediately obvious disabilities. Changes like this show that the challenges those with hearing impairments are being taken seriously and we know the move will be welcomed by Centre Users and many others. With restrictions easing and stores wanting to whoo shoppers, simple measures like this, to make more people feel welcome in stores are just what is needed.”

The Turn Down the Volume initiative was developed by the Scottish Older People’s Association and Quiet Scotland, to help older people feel comfortable shopping. One in six older people is affected by hearing or sight loss and not being confident about asking for help or even getting the right advice in stores because they are worried they won’t be able to hear the answers and fear they will look silly.

Forth Valley Sensory Centre has the following advice for organisations when speaking to/serving deaf customers:

• If a customer does not look at you when you are speaking, they may be deaf, don’t panic, be patient.
• Try to find another way to communicate with a person who has made it clear they can’t understand you.
• It’s not illegal to remove your mask, you won’t get in trouble.
• Write things down for the customer.
• Some people may have difficulty seeing, be prepared to write larger if asked.
• Point to the amount on the till so the customer knows what to pay.
• Maintain eye contact when speaking.

For more information and advice on help with sight or hearing impairments see www.forthvalleysensorycentre.org or follow @FVSensoryCentre on social media. Visit www.howgateshoppingcentre.co.uk for opening times and store details or follow @howgateshopping