Meet: Anna Storm, founder of new deaf befriending service, SignPals (BSL Video)

In the current coronavirus pandemic, many deaf people face loneliness and isolation as social events and groups are cancelled or postponed. In our latest interview, The Limping Chicken meets Anna Storm, from a new friendship service SignPals.

“It’s been a great experience and really exciting to see the response,” says Anna, “from deaf people and organisations to friends and family, everyone has been really supportive.

“I was so thrilled when we started seeing the first applications come in – you can imagine it when you’re planning but when it actually happens it’s brilliant to see.”

SignPals, her new befriending service for deaf people, launched at the start of May. Born deaf and having worked in the disability sector for 15 years, doing something for the deaf community is something Anna has wanted to do for a while.

“I grew up oral in mainstream education and was always embarrassed about my hearing – I didn’t want people to know I wore hearing aids, and covered them up throughout my childhood,” she reveals. “When I learnt BSL I suddenly discovered this new community I had no idea about before, and it felt in many ways like home – I know this is an experience that a lot of other deaf people have.”

Looking to combine supported employment with her commitment to the deaf community, Anna initially intended to train deaf people as baristas. That was, until the coronavirus crisis happened.

“I was furloughed from my job and so had even more spare time to think about what I could do,” she says. “I was really aware that BSL signers are feeling even more isolated due to barriers to information, being home with non-signing family, not being able to see their signing friends.

“I did my research and started talking to people and realised that there is no national friendship-matching service for the BSL community, so I set about creating one!”

The free service sees an individual complete an online application form and agree to community guidelines before they are matched with another deaf person. SignPals will contact pairings every fortnight to check in, before sending a final feedback survey after 12 weeks.

During the 12 weeks and afterwards, Anna tells The Limping Chicken it’s about individuals thinking creatively “about how to get to know each other”, from regular chats to shared activities.

Asked about what friendships can mean for deaf people, Anna replies: “For people who sign, there is that shared passion for the language and the culture – you don’t even need to state it, you can just feel it when you’re in a signing environment.

“It is that passion that brings together people from such a diverse range of backgrounds and ages – deafness affects anyone and BSL brings us together. It stops us feeling alone.

“This is why Sign Pals is for everyone in the BSL community,” she adds. “It’s also why we’re including CODAs and interpreters – they’re part of the community too and we want to try and create positive social connections across the spectrum.”

It’s a project which took six weeks from the initial idea to its launch. “Everything we’ve done – creating the website, designing logo, establishing processes, having BSL videos so the whole website is accessible – has been done voluntarily by us,” says Anna. “This includes me and Andy, who’s been supporting me, and countless others.”

“I’m really glad I’ve had Sign Pals to focus on during this period – I would have been quite bored without it,” Anna continues. “It’s allowed me to connect with so many different deaf people in this time and it’s been great to have their support.

“A special thanks to David Buxton, Lynn Stewart-Taylor and Marcel Hirshman and the team of deaf translators who all filmed the BSL videos for the website and application form.”

For now, SignPals are focussing on sign-ups to their service. Yet, looking ahead, Anna says they could have a project which matches BSL learners with signers to improve their signing, or deaf people coaching others on how to use services like FaceTime to keep in touch.

“For all of that, we will need funding,” Anna explains. “If people have saved money on a meal out or even a bus fare in isolation and want to donate, we’re so grateful for that.

“Initial funds will go towards marketing and building the website. We’re determined that Sign Pals is now here to stay!”

More information about SignPals, including how to support the service, can be found on the company’s website.

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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.