Welcome
Let us tell you what we are about
We are the volunteer arm of the Fylde Coast BSL Centre and our volunteers are students, former students and deaf friends of the Centre. Our mission is to teach the BSL alphabet to as many people as possible in the Fylde Coast area. We have been doing this by offering free fingerspelling tuition (and a few basic signs) to local businesses, schools, hospitals, medical centres etc. This tuition takes the form of a single one-hour lesson which is usually held in the workplace eg during staff lunch hours, in order to minimise disruption to the working day.
This has been popular, with students enjoying the learning and employers seeing the benefits for their staff and businesses. We want to carry on with this and encourage as many more organisations as possible to take advantage of this FREE offer.
Click here to request free fingerspelling tuition
Also, we support other initiatives which will improve deaf awareness or help support the deaf community. These include regular events like the fortnightly Karaoke/Quiz Evenings at The Duke of York on Dickson Road, and the fortnightly Sign Club at The Devonshire Arms on Devonshire Road and, for 2012, we hope to take part in some new events like:
Wednesday BSL Conversation Clubs:
Fuller details about these are under our NEWS column
Outreach Support Service: This will replace the Drop In service. We are offering this service exclusively to members of our deaf community.
Poker Evening: A No Limit Texas Hold’em £10 Buy In Tournament with Rebuys available for the first hour.
Speaker Suppers: These will begin in the New Year with dates and venues to be confirmed.
News
May 2012
Friday: Friday 25th: 8pm onwards Sign Club. Devonshire Pub, Devonshire Road, Blackpool. Come along and practice your BSL and get two hours for your log books. Everyone welcome.
Every Sunday: 9pm onwards Duke of York, Dickson Road, Blackpool. For everyone. BSL Quiz and Karaoke evening. This is a popular night. If you have not tried it do come along. Most songs are signed. Its a great evening out.
Free Interpreter Service
Sign Health have developed an online VRS, called InterpreterNow! It is accessed using a webcam link that connects the Deaf person to BSL interpreters.
The service is free for Deaf people who’d like to make calls to health services including making appointments or getting health information.
For more information about InterpreterNow! Click Here
First Aid
The Red Cross have produced a series of SIGNED first aid videos. Please take a look. These may help you in the future
Wednesdays: BSL Conversation Clubs
These will be held at different locations and times on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. Two will be morning sessions and two will be held in the evening. We hope that by varying times and locations that as many BSL users as possible will be able to join us. The venues and times are as follows:
1st Wed Sacred Heart Church Thornton 11.00am
2nd Wed BSL Centre, Church St 7.00pm
3rd Wed St Joseph’s Church, Lytham 11.00am
4th Wed BSL Centre, Church St 7.00pm
Everyone with an interest in improving their BSL skills will be welcome from absolute beginners to Level 6. Activities will include, Finger Spelling, BSL Games and BSL Conversations
Saying Goodbye to 2011
2011 (our first year) has been busy and rewarding. This review summarises our achievements and we hope all our volunteers are proud of them.
Signing in the Community:
delivered 24 fingerspelling lessons to 328 individuals in 14 organisations
supported our local deaf community by:
holding 15 Drop In Centres
organising 2 Solaris benefits meetings
hosting 21 BSL Coffee Mornings
participating in 29 BSL Karaoke evenings
providing 18 volunteers for Deafpool
raised over £1500 at our Family Fun Day in August
attended 7 community support meetings across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre AND
made 1 radio appearance
NOT BAD AT ALL FOR OUR FIRST YEAR EH? And, of course, we wont stop there. We are looking forward to lots of new ideas and events in 2012.
WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE TAKEN PART IN 2011 AND A BIG WELCOME AND THANKS IN ADVANCE TO THOSE WHO WILL SUPPORT US IN 2012
Wyre Big Society Awards
Signing in the Community were recently nominated for a Wyre Big Society Award and at the Wyre Showcase Event held on Tuesday 22nd November, we received our Certificate of Nomination from the Mayor. The Mayor praised our work saying “I am impressed with your levels of commitment and I am proud of the work you are doing in Wyre”. We did not win the main award but we are, nonetheless, very proud of our achievements in such a short time. A GREAT BIG FAT THANK YOU to all our Volunteers.
Useful Contact Numbers for Benefits Advice
If you live in Blackpool contact Disability First:
Text: 07517 698 601
Email: andycoupland@disabilityfirst.org
If you live in Fylde or Wyre contact Lancashire Welfare Rights:
Tel: 0845 053 0013
Minicom: 01772 537 019
http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/ atoz/a_to_z/service.asp?u_id=3504&tab=1
SinC On The Radio
On 17 August 2011, Cathy O’Brien of Signing In The Community was interviewed on BBC Radio Lancashire. To hear the interview click PLAY.
Click here to read a transcript of the interview
