The High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Francis Burkitt DL, will visit Cambridgeshire Deaf Association’s Huntingdon office on Thursday 17 September 2026. He will meet the team, present awards to volunteers and to a member of staff, and talk about what deaf and hard of hearing people in the county need.
He will present High Sheriff’s Certificates of Appreciation to volunteers from CDA’s Befriending service and Hearing Help service, and a long service award to a member of staff who is marking ten years with CDA. Between them, the people being recognised represent many years of quiet, consistent work — at drop-in sessions, on visits, and alongside people who would otherwise be managing on their own.
CDA works across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The charity runs advocacy and casework, a specialist domestic abuse service, CDA Life — a care service rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission — befriending, support for deafblind people, community events and drop-ins, deaf and hard of hearing sport through the CDA Sports Club, British Sign Language and deaf awareness training, and Hearing Help, which maintains NHS hearing aids free of charge at drop-in sessions and on home visits.
What a High Sheriff is
Most people have never met one, so it is worth explaining. Each year the King appoints a resident of Cambridgeshire to serve as his High Sheriff, as the monarch has done for every county of England and Wales for more than a thousand years. The High Sheriff is the King’s second most senior personal representative in the county, after the Lord-Lieutenant. The appointment lasts a year, it is independent and non-political, and it is unpaid — High Sheriffs receive no expenses or support from public funds.
Francis Burkitt took up the role in spring 2026. He was born in Cambridge and brought up in Grantchester, spent his career in corporate finance in the City of London, and served as a South Cambridgeshire district councillor for twelve years, chairing the Greater Cambridge Partnership. He has been a Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire since 2024. Alongside the justice system, his year is focused on the charities and voluntary organisations working across the county, and on thanking the people who keep them running.
Why it matters
The visit is also a chance to talk honestly about the landscape for charities in Cambridgeshire at the moment, and about what is happening to the people CDA supports. Demand for advocacy and casework, for care and for Hearing Help keeps rising. Funding does not rise with it. Deaf and hard of hearing people still hit the same barriers when they try to get a GP appointment, contact a service or take part in something local — and those barriers are not inevitable, they are design choices that can be changed.
This is the second year running that CDA has welcomed the county’s High Sheriff. The Hon Frances Stanley DL, High Sheriff for 2025/26, visited in August 2025 and met staff and volunteers in Peterborough.
Andrew Palmer, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Deaf Association, said:
“I’m really looking forward to welcoming the High Sheriff to Huntingdon and showing him the work we do here. We were delighted when Frances, the last High Sheriff, came to see us last year, and we’re just as delighted that the new High Sheriff is coming too. It’s great recognition of the work Cambridgeshire Deaf Association does in the community. I’m particularly pleased he’s giving awards to our volunteers, who dedicate so much time and energy to supporting local people, and to a member of our staff who has given ten years to this organisation. Our staff devote so much of their working lives to providing good services. People in this sector don’t often get thanked properly for that, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them get the recognition they deserve.”
Get in touch
The visit takes place on Thursday 17 September 2026. We will share photographs and the names of everyone who receives an award afterwards.
If you are deaf or hard of hearing and you would like support, or if you know someone who would, please get in touch with us at info@cambsdeaf.org. And if you have a few hours to spare, our Befriending and Hearing Help services are always glad to hear from new volunteers — you do not need any experience, and you do not need to sign.
Photograph of the High Sheriff courtesy of the Office of the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire.
