A Carlisle man will join a Love Island star at a runway event to feature those with hearing loss and to challenge ‘outdated stigmas around hearing loss’.

47-year-old Barrie Mark, a personal trainer in and from Carlisle said he intends to show the world what living with hearing loss looks like at the show tonight (February 29) in London.

With him with will be Tasha Ghouri from Love Island and ‘style icon’ Susannah Constantine.

To mark World Hearing Day this Sunday, Tasha and Susannah, who proudly use cochlear implants and hearing aids, will be joined by ten hearing aid wearers who will become models for the day.

“My two little girls will be very excited to see dad on the catwalk.

“It’s totally out of my comfort zone as you’d normally find me in shorts and a hoody all weathers, so this well be a refreshing change,” Barrie said. 

This is an industry first, hosted by Boots Hearingcare, to gather and celebrate people who have taken action and are living exciting and fulfilling lives since embracing their hearing loss.

Through hosting the event, the hearing care company said it hopes to encourage the millions of people across the UK living with an untreated hearing loss to do the same.   

With approximately 11million people living with hearing loss, it is the second most common disability in the UK - with Healthwatch England forecasting that by 2035, 15.6million people will be affected by hearing loss. 

Feraz Ashraf, senior audiologist at Boots Hearingcare, said: “Living with an untreated hearing loss makes communicating feel exhausting.

“This can lead to fatigue and irritability, and people can withdraw themselves from social settings altogether. 

“As people become more isolated, this can lead to other issues such as depression, so it can create a domino effect.   

“Life doesn’t stop when you wear a hearing aid, in fact, the hearing aid amplifies your day-to-day in ways you forgot you knew.

“Our mission at Boots Hearingcare is to get everyone hearing more of what they love, and to change those outdated stigmas that surround the world of hearing care.”