SHONA HUDSON

Shona is a cycling enthusiast from Warwickshire who is deaf and has seen her activity levels greatly reduced

You’re a keen amateur cyclist but how frustrating has this period been for you?

I’ve been out cycling myself but I haven’t been able to do other things like pilates or dance classes, so cycling has kept me going to be honest. I had a group of ladies, some of whom are deaf, that I took out cycling. If I hadn’t got involved with various activities before the pandemic, and got involved with British Cycling before the pandemic, I’d have been lost.

You lost your husband a year ago, did your cycling group take on even more significance as a support network for you?

Exercise became even more important for me. Everybody’s been going through different things but I have had a network of people, which has been great. I’m lucky I had that and have been able to maintain some of that. It’s been life-saving.

What have the challenges been for deaf people this past year?

Zoom classes have not been any good for me. Deaf people do tend to lose confidence and I really miss that physical dance or pilates class. I know some profoundly deaf ladies who have not been out cycling on their own because of worries about traffic, not hearing noise. I really feel for them.

Virtual classes have caught on but what’s that like for someone hard of hearing?

I haven’t felt comfortable doing it and

I know ladies who haven’t either. Zoom and that sort of thing do not work for deaf people very well so we’ve been left a bit without sport and activity in that respect.

Generally, is there enough provision around sport-wise for deaf people?

It’s difficult enough in some environments to not feel like you’re in the way, and this has just put extra blocks on deaf people participating. It’s very isolating to not be able to go out and exercise. There are things out there but how do you find out about them? You do feel cut off from people as a deaf person sometimes in situations like this.

Do you have faith that the government will not overlook people with disabilities in the return to sport?

I’m not aware that they’re doing anything, personally. I’m not aware the government has taken any kind of lead. It’s great if things are there that you’re already part of, like me with British Cycling, but if I’d been working full-time and been in lockdown without that, that would have been very hard. Where do you regain your confidence to join in with something?

When do you hope you’ll be back doing classes in person?

I’d love it if it was tomorrow. You can only go on so long like this. Last year was a huge learning curve for me and what I really hope is something like the support from Activity Alliance will spur people on and encourage everyone to get out and get fit. Having something like my cycling group has helped me so much, even when we’ve not been able to get out and cycle. I rely so much on that group and that support network. Meeting other people like me with a hearing problem really helped me.