Deafness is no barrier for the reigning Miss England

Georgia Horsley didn't hear when last year's finalists were announced at the Miss England contest. Completely deaf in her right ear, she couldn't hear the compere standing on her right. She had deliberately kept her deafness under wraps during the competition because she "didn't want anybody to think [I] was getting the sympathy vote." "Everybody was stood on the stage clapping away and I was, too. My number had been called out and people were looking around trying to see who it was," she says. Georgia asked another contestant what number it was. "They said it was number 10 and I said, 'Oh my God, that's me!' I had to go out quickly. I was so worried it had ruined my chances and that they would think I was a dumb blonde who didn't know what her number was!"

It didn't affect the judge's view of her: Georgia went on to win the Miss England crown. It was easier in the finals because "when my name was called out everybody kind of jumped on me." Georgia only told the Miss England organisers about her deafness after she had been crowned. Although she is usually very open about her deafness, as a child she was worried she might get teased if the other children at school knew. Her deafness may have been caused by a bout of suspected meningitis at the age of two. Georgia's story can be read in full in One in Seven magazine. Join RNID now to get your copy.

Alarm clocks to get you going! We look at the latest models.

Some people are good at waking up just before their alarm goes off; it's as if they can magically programme themselves to wake at a certain time. For the rest of us, an alarm clock is the only way to end our slumber.

Alarm clocks come in all shapes and sizes – if your hearing loss is not so severe, and you just want an alarm that's somewhat louder than usual, with perhaps some control over how it sounds, you'll find the range a bit limited. And the choice narrows considerably if you want one with a vibrating pad, or 'bed-shaker' as Americans like to call it. However, some novel designs have become available since our last review of alarm clocks. To help test our alarm clocks, we asked our volunteers, most with moderate to severe hearing loss, to try them out at home. So, did anyone oversleep? See the full product review with 'at a glance' comparison chart in One in Seven magazine. Join RNID now to get your copy.

In the loop: our Campaigns team is urging shops, banks and cinemas to make sure their loops are switched on and working.

Every day hundreds of thousands of people rely on induction loops to deal with banks, enjoy the cinema and buy essentials at their local shops. However, we are regularly confronted with difficulties caused by loops that aren't working, are switched off, or haven't been installed.

Even when a loop is present and functioning, many of you have found that the person behind the counter had no idea how to use it. Your correspondence highlights many companies and public service providers that are letting you down, so we thought it would be best to tackle these problems sector by sector.

The one thing that we all have in common is buying goods and services, so we decided to tackle high street giants first. We wrote to the top 30 high street retailers and asked them whether they had any loops installed, how they maintained the equipment, and if there were any training programmes in place. The feedback we received was mixed but some companies stood out. Lloyds Pharmacy, Tesco, Marks and Spencer and HSBC have all recognised that hearing aid users need to be respected and are working with us to improve the situation.

Find out more about the campaign, member feedback, and details of how you can help, in One in Seven magazine. Join RNID now to get your copy.