Blog
Honouring Sign Language Week in Stranraer
Fri, 18th Mar 2022This week #Team Stranraer have spent a morning learning Sign Language to mark Sign Language Week!
Sign Language week is running from 14th – 20th March 2022 and is an annual event hosted by the British Deaf Association (BDA). Part of the aims of this week is to promote a greater public understanding in Britain of the Deaf Community and the unique and beautiful visual language that is British Sign Language. And it is celebrated each year in March to coincide with the anniversary of the British Government recognising British Sign Language in 2003.
Vivianne Hornsby, our Young Person’s Guarantee Worker in Stranraer, has experience working in several educational centres with Deaf adults and children and started to learn BSL in 2017. Vivianne is extremely passionate about celebrating this week and sharing her love of BSL with our young people.
To market Sign Language Week Viv ran a BSL session with our young people and taught them:
• BSL alphabet
• how to sign their names
• how to greet and offer help to a Deaf person
• How to fingerspell or sign Better Lives Partnership
Vivianne said:
“I thought that BSL Week 2022 would be a wonderful opportunity to introduce the young people at BLP to BSL, especially as some will have watched Rose Ayling-Ellis on Strictly Come Dancing and will have seen her use sign language.
I have seen the importance of using BSL with Deaf individuals and how supporting them in their first language can make a difference to their lives and the quality of services they receive in every aspect of their lives.”
The young people really enjoyed getting to learn BSL and start gaining a better understanding of the language and the Deaf Community.
