Deaf News: Signature to stop hosting annual awards “for the foreseeable future”

The awarding body for sign language qualifications, Signature, has announced that it will no longer host its annual awards ceremony.

The awards, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last year, aimed to “recognise people who are going above and beyond to improve access for deaf people”.

In a statement on their website, a spokesperson for the organisation said: “I know how much we all enjoy celebrating together; please understand how difficult this decision has been for us.

“The awards have connected us with our centres, colleagues and the sector itself, but we believe it is time to look at new ways of doing this.”

The statement then goes on to add that it was “the perfect time for Signature to refocus and concentrate on our centres”, saying that they want to “further engage and concentrate” on the relationships with them.

It reads: “This may not be the end of the awards, but I am confident that our decision to give it some breathing space is the right one.

“We know how much the Signature Annual Awards have meant to a lot of people, us included, but I would like to assure our centres that this is the start of something new and exciting.

“We are now busy planning what’s next for Signature, and you will be the first to know once this is decided.”

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and makes the occasional video about deaf awareness on his YouTube channel. He can also be found talking about disability, politics, theatre, books and music on his Twitter, or on his website.