UK Deaf Sport (UKDS) is a national registered charity and is only recognised national governing body for Deaf sport in the United Kingdom, supporting and advocating  Deaf  and  hard-of-hearing  athletes  to  try  and  support  the Government’s target.

As a  result, UKDS has become the leading  voice for Deaf  and  hard  of  hearing  people in the  world  of  sport and leisure,  both  at home and internationally.

UK Deaf Sport is a federation of many deaf sports organisations built around a UK wide organisation, united by a commitment to support the cause of deaf people through sport. UK Deaf Sport members represent thousands of deaf men, women  and  children  who  participate in  sport,  volunteers,  participants and other people who enjoy watching and supporting deaf sport.

There are nearly 10 million people with a hearing loss in the UK, many of whom are either not aware of their hearing loss or try to conceal or hide it. Hearing can be lost in several different ways and to varying degrees:

• Some people are deaf from birth.
• Some people gradually lose their hearing as they get older.
• Others lose their hearing suddenly through illness or accidents.

Hearing loss can affect an individual at any age. Everybody today is exposed to an increased level of noise, partly through environmental factors and partly through  loud  music  and  the  number  of  people losing  their  hearing in  their thirties and forties is increasing.

(source:- Hearing Concern)

In the UK, there  are  about  20,000  children  aged  0 to15  years  old who  are moderately  to  profoundly  deaf. About  12,000  of  these  were  born  deaf.

Children who are born deaf are sometimes called ‘prelingually’ deaf because they  were  deaf  before  they developed  language.  They  have  particular educational needs.

There are more than 30,000 deaf  children and  young people. About one in every 1,000 children is deaf at three years old. This rises to two in every 1,000 children aged nine to 16.

An  estimated  840  children  are  born  in  the  UK  every  year  with  significant deafness; that is, moderate to profound deafness. Vaccination means fewer babies  are  born  deaf  as  a  result  of their mothers  having German measles (rubella) during pregnancy.

This drop has been offset by more babies being born deaf from other causes such as premature birth or lack of oxygen during birth. More babies survive with multiple disabilities than used to be the case.

(source:- The National Deaf Children Society (NDCS))