Scary fact: any of us could turn deaf at any point, especially those of us that regularly go to gigs or work in the music industry. Founder of local charity Speak for Sign Cate La Starza wants to highlight the feeling of isolation that can come alongside being surrounded by people that have the ability to speak and hear with no assistance...
The Speak for Sign campaign has a goal to end isolation in the deaf community. The main objective is to provide those who work in environments of public service easy access to learn basic British Sign Language while working to promote the visibility of the language all over the country. The idea includes stickers on toilet cubicle doors with basic greetings and gestures, leaflets on bars, and a display in shops with how to ask questions relevant to the surrounding environment. Wild Clothing on Broad Street are already one step ahead, displaying a sign behind their till with how to ask for sizes and certain clothing items.
There is no additional cost to learning sign language, and unfortunately there isn’t always a cochlear implant or hearing aid around when you have something to say, so sign language becoming normalised could do the language some real justice as well as expanding minds to learn a new skill.
Speak for Sign plans to cater to children especially, in order for the next generation to be able to use BSL and popularising the cause by incorporating it into primary education. So far, founder Cate La Starza has had an amazing sponsorship donation of £50 by On Point but is still urging for people to get involved in order to purchase logos, advertisements, flyers and other form of promotions.
For more information on how to get involved with Speak for Sign drop Cate an email on speakforsign@gmail.com
Speak for Sign Kickstarter Campaign
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
