Signature unveils ‘Hall of Fame’ event to celebrate ‘inspiring’ Deaf people

Signature, the leading awarding body for British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications, is to host a ‘Hall of Fame’ ceremony to celebrate Deaf people who have gone “above and beyond” to improve access.

The one-off event, to take place at Manchester’s National Football Museum in November, will also mark the 40 years since Signature became an independent charity.

Executive Director Lindsay Foster said: “We really wanted to come together to celebrate what has been achieved over the last 40 years in the sector.

“So many people and organisations have achieved so much, and we want to celebrate that.”

The charity cites the ongoing BSL Bill, the planned BSL GCSE and Rose Ayling-Ellis’ Strictly win as examples of “inspiring stories” and “amazing things” to have taken place over the last four decades, adding that these moments prove “deaf people can achieve anything”.

The ‘Hall of Fame’ event is the organisation’s latest ceremony aimed at recognising leading Deaf individuals, after it stopped hosting the Signature Annual Awards in 2019.

A spokesperson said at the time: “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.”

“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.”

Nominations for the ‘Hall of Fame’ are set to open next Monday, and close on 29 July, with further information about how to nominate to be released “in the coming days”.

A panel of judges will then compile a shortlist in August from all nominations submitted.

Ms Foster added: “It’s nice to have an event to look forward to where we’ll be able to celebrate with friendly faces after a few challenging years.”

Ticketing information for the ceremony will be released closer to the event, once shortlisting has concluded.

Photo: Signature.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.