Deaf-led charity Rare Rockets is the most recent beneficiary of the Open North Foundation (ONF), having received the largest grant awarded to date by the not-for-profit organisation..
The Newton Aycliffe-based organisation has received £3,000 from ONF for its "In-vision" work which involves using video messages, subtitles and voiceover as alternative to text-based content. It has seen significant interest in its services and has recently increased its headcount from five in April to 20 employees.
Rare Rockets has pointed to the many issues faced by the deaf community during the pandemic, including isolation from society, the loss of support networks, and mask wearing making lip reading difficult. Craig Jones, CEO, Rare Rockets, said: "In the last two months we have achieved charitable status which is phenomenal and will allow us to invest our time and profits back to the community we are so passionate about.
