Juliet England: More than two decades of Deaf Days at London’s City Lit

The sun came out, and so did the deaf community (in force) one week ago for the 22^nd annual Deaf Day at City Lit, an adult education college in central London with a long history of supporting deaf students.

Those attending spilled out onto the pavement as dozens more milled around inside the Covent Garden-based institution, or packed the ground-floor cafe.

And when not catching up with old friends and contacts or forging new connections, attendees could chat to some three dozen exhibitors spread over seven rooms across two floors.

A huge variety of organisations was at the event, including a number of deaf schools, colleges and universities such as Wolverhampton and Heriot-Watt, charities, arts organisations like Deafinitely Theatre and StageText, and professional associations including the Association of Lipspeakers. Big businesses were also represented – both BT and Metro Bank had stands, while the latter gave a late-morning talk on deaf-friendly banking.

In one room, the emergency services were present, including the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade. The Met ran fraud and cybercrime awareness sessions during the day, while London Ambulance was also there.

Throughout the day, there were taster sessions for a variety of the college’s courses, including lipreading, BSL and deaf history, while a BSL poetry reading and a demonstration from StageText followed an introduction to the day from City Lit principal Mark Malcomson.

You could also try your hand at ceramics, embroidery or watercolours in a visual arts taster workshop, or have a go at yoga, nutrition, aromatherapy or hand massage.

The whole thing, which is completely free to attend, was made possible with support from sponsors including Hamilton Lodge school, SignVideo and Lipreading Practice.

City Lit celebrates its centenary next year, and has a fascinating history, having educated many returning soldiers whose hearing had been damaged during the First World War.

Today, offering more than five thousand different courses, City Lit aims to bring people together to enhance their lives through learning. The college is well known for its deaf education programme, and has many deaf students and staff members.

Specialist support is on offer, including in terms of access arrangements and welfare advice, while courses including those in maths, English and IT and lipreading, are targeted at deaf students and BSL is taught to both deaf and hearing students.

Head of Deaf Access and Joint Coordinator of the Centre for Deaf Education James Fitzgerald told Limping Chicken: “Deaf Day is about showcasing our work and that of our partners, and about celebrating deaf issues. We’ve rejigged some of the workshops this year to make it a bit different.

“It’s also a superb chance for people to come together and meet each other, and, as usual, there’s been a real festival feel to the whole day. This is our twenty-second Deaf Day, and it’s grown to become a key event in the yearly deaf calendar.”

 

By Juliet England