The Clarion Community Chest is Open For Business

Below is a post from our newest supporter, Clarion. Find out all about them by clicking here.

Free Communication Support when it’s needed, in the right place at the right time, throughout life.

Our vision is to provide a voice for deaf and hard of hearing people and our values are that “there is no such thing as ‘hard to reach’ groups; in reality they are simply ‘out of reach’ to mainstream institutions”.

We have set up the Clarion Community Trust in response to repeated requests from the Deaf Community to improve services and access.

We are incredibly pleased and proud to announce that, in partnership with Awards for All, we are able to open the Community Chest. This gives deaf and hard of hearing people free access to events through the provision of BSL/English Interpreters or communication support and ensures equality of access for everyone.

All statutory organisations have a legal duty to provide equal access to their services by providing BSL/English Interpreters or deafblind Interpreters for their deaf and deafblind clients.

Some institutions do not provide access as they are not legally mandated as they are too small or the deaf person is expected to pay. The “reasonable adjustment” does not apply and in these cases the organisation usually doesn’t provide an interpreter, meaning that the deaf or deafblind person is unable to attend and access the information, sometimes critical or very sensitive.

Situations like this include weddings, funerals, christenings, play schemes for deaf children, bereavement counselling or hairdressing appointments. It may be a community event such as a protest march, arts festival or sport including football matches or karate classes.

The sessions can be used during the week or at weekends for all types of events and at whatever time suits the deaf person. Our goal is to provide over the year, 100 free sessions. This means we can start to level the playing field for deaf people, make a real difference quickly and easily and continue to achieve our vision.

For more information and an application form, please go the Trust website on www.clariontrust.co.uk.