Loud Shirt Day 2020

Loud Shirt Day 2020 will be held next month, on 23 October. Thousands of New Zealanders are expected to wear their brightest outfits, and raise vital funds to help give the gift of sound.

Loud Shirt Day encourages New Zealanders to commit fashion crimes, donate to the NZ cochlear implant programmes, and give the gift of sound

Lachie Bartlett vividly remembers the moment his cochlear implant was switched on for the first time when he was just eight years old.

“My family was behind the one-way mirror that looked into the room,” says Lachie, who is profoundly deaf. “I remember Mum saying ‘Hi Lachie’ from the other side of the glass. I smiled immediately. The next sound I heard was the crying of my nana and Mum.”

That was 14 years ago. Lachie, 23 years old, has since graduated with a Law Degree from the University of Canterbury, and took up an exchange opportunity to study at the University of Nottingham in the UK. For the next six months of this year he is working for the Young Marists Organisation in Wellington working throughout the nine Marists Schools in New Zealand and assisting with leadership programmes.

Lachie, and thousands of other adults and children with cochlear implants, are the focus of Loud Shirt Day 2020 – a national fundraising event and awareness campaign being held in October. New Zealanders are encouraged to dress up in their brightest outfits and hold fundraising events at workplaces, homes and schools throughout the country.

Loud Shirt Day is the annual appeal of The Hearing House (THH) and the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme (SCIP) – the only two charities in New Zealand dedicated to helping children and adults with a cochlear implant learn to listen and speak. These two organisations support thousands of Kiwis living with a cochlear implant; reconnecting them with school, work and the community.

“The funds raised by Loud Shirt Day helped me and will help children and adults in the future to focus on their abilities – enabling them to view their disability as an opportunity, rather than a burden. You have the chance to change people’s lives.

About the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme (SCIP)

Established in 2003, SCIP is a charity providing care to more than 950 adults and children throughout the South Island and as far north as Taupo. Services offered from its offices in Christchurch and Wellington are complemented by regular visiting clinics throughout the catchment area. SCIP’s team provides cochlear implant assessments, arranges surgery, activates the cochlear implant, administers adjustments and provides post-implant rehabilitation services.

About The Hearing House (THH)

Established in 1998, THH currently cares for over 900 adults and children with hearing loss from Kaitaia to Turangi. THH is based in the Sitchbury Bidwill Centre in Auckland, providing audiology services and Spoken and Listening Language Specialised Therapy to support people to achieve greater independence in a hearing and speaking world. THH also holds a special alliance with the University of Auckland with a mutual focus on collaboration for research. THH provides outreach services to clients out of Auckland.

How can people get involved with Loud Shirt Day?

DONATE: Go to www.loudshirtdaynz.org.nz to make a donation
REGISTER ONLINE at www.loudshirtdaynz.org.nz. Participants will be emailed a fundraising pack
containing all the information they need.
SET A DATE: The official date for Loud Shirt Day is Friday, 23 October, but people are welcome to
choose another day that works best for them.
GET LOUD: Dress up and host a Loud Shirt Day fundraising event. Ideas, fundraising guides and
other resources are available at www.loudshirtdaynz.org.nz
SPREAD THE WORD: Follow and share Loud Shirt Day on Facebook and Instagram, using the
hashtag #getloud2020