Cecilia Lilley, from Llanfairfechan, first started to notice her hearing was fading when she began having trouble hearing the phone when it rang and had to keep turning the TV volume up just so she could hear it.

Cecilia says, "I joined lip reading classes, which helped me a little, but conversations still required a lot of guesswork."

Cecilia was put off by the NHS waiting lists, and the basic selection of hearing aids available; she struggled on with her hearing loss for many years. It wasn't until recently, when Cecilia learnt that her local David Ormerod Hearing Centre in Llandudno offered free hearing tests and advice about modern hearing instruments that she decided to seek help.

Cecilia continues "When I went for my hearing test I found the hearing aid audiologist friendly and reassuring and I was made to feel very comfortable throughout my assessment."

After talking through her options with her hearing aid audiologist, Cecilia decided upon a pair of Audéo digital hearing aids, which she found were not only small and stylish, but also incredibly comfortable. In fact, they're so small and light she's hardly aware that she's wearing them.

Since being fitted with her hearing aids Cecilia has never looked back. As a nature lover she now realises just how much she has been missing everyday sounds that most people take for granted - the simple things like birds singing, a flowing river or walking through rustling, autumn leaves.