Our Read My Lips! campaign has achieved its first success in Essex, where the County Council has changed its policy to offer lipreading classes free of charge to those who need them.

The County Council was charging amongst the highest fees in the country, for classes that were previously free, with lipreading learners being charged £186 for a 60 hour course. When fees were introduced, learners found they could no longer afford to attend, and decided to take action.

The campaign in Essex was spearheaded by the learners themselves with support from RNID. The campaign included sending letters to the County Council and local MPs, staging a protest outside a meeting of the Council, and holding a face to face meeting with council officials.

As a result of this determined campaign, Essex County Council has agreed to abolish charges for new and existing learners in the county. A new certificate will be introduced to measure the learners' skills and ensure the classes are making a difference.

A big thank you goes to our members in Essex for their commitment to bringing about this change and for sharing their stories to explain the issue to their council. We also congratulate the Adult Community Learning department at Essex for this extremely positive result.

But the Read my Lips! campaign does not end in Essex. We will keep fighting for lipreading classes to be made available across the whole of the UK, and at little or no cost to the learner. Do you think lipreading classes in your area are too expensive? If so, contact us at campaigns@rnid.org.uk