Coronavirus: The local Deaf clubs keeping people connected

 As the coronavirus pandemic continues, The Limping Chicken has been hearing from different members of the Deaf community about how the outbreak has affected them.

This week, Liam O’Dell investigates how Deaf clubs across the UK are looking after their local communities in the time of isolation.

 It is the first time members of Manchester Deaf Centre’s wellbeing group has conducted a session over the video conferencing app, Zoom.

On a grey Thursday morning in Bedfordshire, I join them from my dining room, rain tapping on the window.

As a piece of technology, the group tell me Zoom is beneficial for all of them to communicate with each other, despite an intermittent connection. One individual in the call tells me they feel very cut off and isolated, in turn, causing them stress. Activities such as jigsaw puzzles and art have helped them to occupy themselves.

While the wellbeing group has been able to meet in uncertain times, the closure of the Manchester Deaf Centre has led to the suspension of its meetings for Deaf people aged 50 or over, where members would enjoy board games and plan visits to places of “cultural, natural and historical significance”.

“In this period of public health crisis, we are joining with the Gunner Cooke Foundation to get basic food, hygiene supply and treat boxes out to the most isolated and vulnerable beneficiaries of this Group,” the centre’s secretary, John Hesketh, says in a statement. “At the time of writing, we are planning a digital literacy skill-building project for delivery on an outreach basis.”

With support from the Lankelly Chase Foundation, iPads have been provided to members of the 50+ group, with tutorials delivered in British Sign Language on how to use the devices.

“We are keen to do our utmost to sustain those D/deaf people who are cut-off and presently unable to access information, advice and guidance made available by telephone or online in high-level English where BSL is their first language,” John continues. “Having built their skill-base and confidence through carefully risk managed teaching and outreach work over coming weeks, we then expect to be able to create and make self-directed life skills and learning activities available online.”

It’s part of the centre’s plan to maintain physical and mental health amongst members, and develop confidence in accessing public services online, such as finances, groceries and healthcare. 

“We are bridging the digital divide one D/deaf person at a time and hope to improve the 50+ Group committee’s capacity to go on supporting its regular beneficiaries,” John explains, “numbering 60 and more on a regular basis, and sometimes up to 100.”

My conversations with Manchester Deaf Centre follow a message of support released by chief executives of deaf organisations such as Action Deafness and Nottinghamshire Deaf Society in April.

“At Action Deafness, we want to make sure our clients, staff and stakeholders are safe and well,” says Craig Crowley, Chief Executive of Action Deafness. “Our keyworkers are still working hard to continue our services during these challenging times.”

Sharon Bryant of Gloucester Deaf Association (GDA) goes on to add: “[GDA] are trying to make sure our services can support deaf and hard of hearing people. Please follow government advice and stay well and be safe.”

This request was also repeated by Liz Jones from SONUS, a deaf charity which supports deaf people in Southampton, Hampshire, Dorset, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight and surrounding areas.

In the video, the Chief Executive urged individuals to stay at home while they “continue to support our clients in the community and at Easthill Residential Care Home”.

Elsewhere, Helene Bolton, trustee for the Deaf charity Access Bedford, tells The Limping Chicken that the impact of coronavirus on their organisation “has been huge”, given them “a whole host of challenges for a team that comprises solely of volunteers”.

With members contributing to the charity in their spare time, Helene says their volunteers have had to “prioritise themselves and their families first” and adjust to the lifestyle changes and restrictions.

“Trying to adapt to working from home, whilst home educating children has been the biggest issue,” says Helene. “Sharing laptops, iPads and table space between family members has meant that Access Bedford activities have had to wait till quieter times of the day to take place.”

Despite this, Access Bedford say there are benefits to being such a localised group. “We are fortunate that we know of and are in touch with our elderly Deaf group and they know how to get hold of us when they need to,” Helene explains, “so the main challenge is finding a way that we can all meet and chat virtually to alleviate the isolation.”

She goes on to add that the charity has still been able to support people through their Deaf Space drop-in service, which has now moved online. “However, finding a platform that suits everyone is not easy,” says Helene, “so we are having to try out a variety of technologies such as Zoom, Sign Live, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to stay in touch with people.

“This is a particular challenge for our older Deaf community, but we already had a Young at Heart WhatsApp chat set up, so we are able to keep in touch with them.”

“We are offering support via virtual coffee mornings so that people can stay connected, and the hope is that this will encourage those who are not particularly ‘tech savvy’ to have a go and become more ‘virtually’ accessible,” she concludes.

More information about Manchester Deaf Centre and Access Bedford can be found on their respective websites.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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 This article is the seventh report in our ongoing series on coronavirus and how it affects different members of the Deaf community. Previous pieces in the series have covered the pandemic’s impact on:

• British Sign Language interpreters
• Deaf university students
• Deaf mental health
• Deaf charities
• Access to government announcements
• Deafblind people