Deaf News: 60 organisations sign up to support statement of common purpose on deafness

Almost 60 organisations have signed up to support the UK Council on Deafness’s statement of common purpose on deafness and hearing loss.

The list already represents the breadth of the sector. It includes organisations that work with or represent

· people of all ages who are Deaf, deaf, deafened, deafblind or have a hearing loss;

· the myriad of responses to deafness and hearing loss, from people whose only language is sign language to those who have a cochlear implant; and

· communication and language professionals, education institutions, communication agencies, and politicians.

UKCOD says:

Significantly, it includes organisations that aren’t exclusively concerned with deafness or hearing loss. They include NHS Grampian, the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot Watt University, and Southampton City Council’s Reablement Team.

Craig Crowley, chair of the task force that has led the work, said: “We are pleased so many have already signed the statement and look forward to more doing the same.

“The diversity of organisations shows we have gone some way to identifying the core of what our sector is about. We knew there is much we agree on – we just needed to have the conversation.

“Likewise, the work that will be done as a result of this process will be led by organisations across the spectrum of deafness and hearing loss. We are already talking to high profile hearing aid manufacturers, telecommunications providers and others about their involvement too.

“We therefore hope the list will have grown to at least 80 organisations before we formally launch the statement in late autumn. Then we will be in a good position to realise our vision of a world that benefits from people who are deaf or have a hearing loss being able to fulfil their potential.

Six mission groups will develop a collaborative programme of work. They are

· awareness, chaired by Jim Edwards of Signature;

· education, chaired by Lindsey Rousseau of NatSIP;

· employment, chaired by Jan Sheldon of RAD;

· information, chaired by Lorraine Gailey of Hearing Link;

· services, chaired by Jeff Skipp of Deafblind UK; and

· prevention, chaired by Paul Breckell of Action on Hearing Loss.

The chairs will make up the majority of the steering group that will oversee all the work. They will be joined by Jane Cordell of Getting Equal and Craig Crowley of Action Deafness.

The statement of common purpose initiative is facilitated by the UK Council on Deafness. For more information see http://deafcouncil.org.uk/category/commonpurpose.

If you want to join the list of founder signatories and help promote the statement please email dan.sumners@signature.org.uk.

Signatories

1. Action Deafness

2. Action for Deafness

3. Action on Hearing Loss

4. ADEPT

5. appa

6. APPG on Deafness

7. Association of Lipspeakers

8. Association of Sign Language Interpreters

9. Association of Verbatim Speech to Text Reporters

10. BID Services

11. Brian Archbold

12. British Association of Teachers of the Deaf

13. British Deaf Association

14. Cambridgeshire Hearing Help

15. Chief Officers’ Group of Third Sector Deaf Organisations

16. Clarion Interpreting

17. Cochlear Implanted Children’s Support Group

18. Cumbria DeafVision

19. Deaf Direct

20. Deafblind UK

21. Deafconnect

22. Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre, University College London

23. Deafness Support Network

24. deafPlus

25. Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Heriot Watt University

26. The Ear Foundation

27. Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education

28. Gloucestershire Deaf Association

29. Gwen Carr

30. HearFirst

31. Hearing Link

32. Hearing Loss and Deafness Alliance

33. Hertfordshire Hearing Advisory Service

34. Home Counties Cochlear Implant Group

35. Jane Cordell

36. Louise Tonks

37. Manchester Deaf Centre

38. National Association of Deafened People

39. National Cochlear Implant Users Association

40. National Community Hearing Association

41. National Deaf Children’s Society

42. National Sensory Impairment Partnership

43. NHS Grampian

44. Nottinghamshire Deaf Society

45. Phonak UK

46. Reablement Team, Social Services, Southampton City Council

47. Royal Association for Deaf People

48. Scottish Council on Deafness

49. Sense

50. Sign Solutions

51. Signature

52. SignHealth

53. Social Research with Deaf People, University of Manchester

54. South Wales Cochlear Implant Support Group

55. StageTEXT

56. UK Deaf Sport

57. Visual Language Professionals