Tribute to Hazel Wilcock

How can anyone express how much Hazel meant to so many people, and the great work that she has done for the Deaf community and beyond. Those who knew her back in the 1980s and 1990s will remember her as a Social Worker working with Deaf people in the Lancashire areas. Hazel always cared so much about the needs and support for Deaf people. She was also a Counsellor, counselling was one of her passions, and she recognised that the service was not accessible to Deaf people.

Back then, the primary mental health care services were not accessible nor available for Deaf people. Hazel was one of the key people in ensuring that primary mental health care was more accessible and available to Deaf people without the need of an interpreter. Examples of services that Hazel was involved with were the setting up of accessible Counselling Diploma courses for Deaf people, counselling service for Deaf people, and also the development of the specialist Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) for Deaf people. Many Deaf people became qualified Counsellors or Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners which lead to a new path for the employability of Deaf people at the Primary Care level.

The British Society for Mental Health and Deafness (BSMHD) offer our condolences to Hazel’s wider family, friends and fellow professionals, and express thanks for all the work that she did to ensure that Deaf people had wider access to Primary Mental Health care. Hazel will be sorely missed and may she Rest in Peace.

The tragic news of Hazel’s passing came as a great shock to all who knew her.