BUSINESSES in Swindon have been handed a special award for the excellent service they provide for people with hearing difficulties.

Representatives from some of the town’s most popular stores met in the council’s Euclid Street offices last month to receive their certificates.

The awards scheme, launched by campaign group Let’s Loop Swindon, aims to promote local shops and businesses that use a hearing loop system to make the lives of their customers easier.

Local dignitaries including North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, council leader David Renard and Mayor Eric Shaw congratulated the winners and praised the good work of volunteers at Let’s Loop.

Chairman of the group Tim Mason said: “This has been one of the most exciting projects I have ever been involved in. Swindon has really helped us put Let’s Loop on the map.

“All the volunteers who have worked on this project have really shown what we can do and it's amazing how far we have come in two and a half years.”

The businesses and organisations recognised for their commitment to the loop system included Lloyds Chemist in Cavendish Square, the Great Western Hospital, the National Trust, the Brunel Shopping Centre, Swindon Borough Council, Boots in the Brunel Centre and Justin Tomlinson for his personal backing of the cause.

Mr Tomlinson said: “I am absolutely thrilled because Swindon is leading the way with this. I am proud of the small contribution I made and I hope we can get the message out there to other places.”

The loop system uses electromagnetic induction to enable the hearing aid wearer to hear clearly when the aid is within the system’s magnetic field.

In considering a shop, business or individual for an award, nominators were asked to consider the two following questions: ‘Where did you have the best hearing experience in Swindon?’ and ‘Why did you have a good hearing experience in Swindon?’

A proud Gurinder Singh, accepting the award on behalf of his colleagues at the Brunel Centre’s Boots store, said: “From what the customers have said, we know just how important it is to have a fully operational loop system in place.

“There is so much noise around in the Brunel Centre but it is all completely eliminated with the hearing loop. Even colleagues in the store have really benefited from it and in recruitment terms it means we are able to target a whole new base of people.”

The winners were chosen after a group of half a dozen volunteers spent the past two and a half years auditing more than 400 different premises, from hotels to supermarkets, to find the ones most conducive to those with hearing difficulties.