Deaf News: Gloucestershire Deaf Association to launch Deaf awareness videos

Deaf charity Gloucestershire Deaf Association have received funding to make a series of Deaf awareness videos, which will released online in the next few weeks.

The videos are possible thanks to a grant awarded by the Lloyds TSB Foundation Trust in 2013 to fund a two-year project to help Deaf and hard of hearing people manage their finances more independently.

So far GDA has delivered a series of deaf friendly workshops, using both sign language and spoken presentations, and each focussing on a different money topic from understanding mortgages and the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) scheme, to knowing how to make a Will and how to find the best credit card available.

The funding has also enabled the charity to offer deaf awareness training to businesses.

Now GDA is ready to take its project to the next stage. Each of the short videos uses a humorous storyline to highlight one or more specific problems that hamper deaf people every day in their effort to use mainstream services that hearing people take for granted.

Watch the trailer for the videos below:

Most videos feature Reg Cobb, GDA’s Project Developer and a Deaf sign language user himself, who over the past two years has become a social media star through the charity’s weekly BSL newsletters.

Reg says:

“Our experience tells us that deaf people want to be independent; they want to be able to manage their own finances and they want to take control of their own lives.

However so often the reality for them is that they cannot access services which are only available by telephone because they cannot hear; and if they are a Deaf sign language user, they find businesses do not realise what steps they can take to assist communication.

All the issues around deafness are solvable and often at little or no cost; our aim is to make Gloucestershire businesses more aware what these are.”

The first video will be launched on Thursday 22nd January at 12pm and then every Thursday thereafter for five weeks. The videos can be found on GDA’s Youtube page

https://www.youtube.com/user/GDAGlosDeaf

The charity continues to provide deaf awareness training and companies or groups interested in making their organisations more deaf friendly are very welcome to contact GDA on 01452 372999 or email: reg.cobb@glosdeaf.org.uk to find out more.