Grant Radford tells us about setting up a Deaf Pub night in King’s Lynn (BSL)

Hello everybody! My name is Grant Radford, I was born in Essex and moved to King’s Lynn, Norfolk when I was 9 years old. I’m 30 years old now and I work at the West Norfolk Deaf Association (WNDA) offering Advice, Information and Guidance for our Coffee Morning Group.

I help people that need to book appointments, find out if BSL interpreters have been booked – I am basically a problem solver! We are based in King’s Lynn, Norfolk – a very quiet town with plenty of pubs and clubs, you will find here in the summer the town hosts several festivals.

I started working at the WNDA around Christmas 2023 and I absolutely love my role. It pushes me to work harder and develop ideas! After we had all broken up for Christmas holiday, I had a drink over Christmas and straight away a thought popped up in my mind – why don’t King’s Lynn have a Deaf Pub?

Norwich has one, Cambridge has one, Essex has one too! So I asked a very good friend of mine who runs Southend Deaf Pub for some advice and tips so I can gain some knowledge on setting one up.

We felt it was important we worked together to make sure that our social dates don’t clash with one another so that other Deaf groups can come to us and that our group could go to other places without any hassle.

As we discussed this idea I thought, brilliant! I suggested this idea to my manager on our WhatsApp Work Group and all of the work colleagues thought this was a great idea! This drove me to work hard in setting it all up and making it a success.

I started designing a Deaf Pub poster, finding out what pubs will allow us to host a Deaf Pub. A couple of pubs wouldn’t allow it – I have no idea why, they could possibly be scared of the Deaf Community!

I asked my manager Anna if The Lattice House Pub would be happy with us holding the Deaf Pub and they were very excited and happy to allow us to host it at their pub especially as the owner has a Deaf best friend.

So we arranged to have a meeting with the owner and his web design partner.  She designs her own work to match the Pubs atmosphere and the historic look. I agreed to let her take over and design us a poster to see what we think, and she came back a week later with a draft of the poster.

When I saw the poster I thought WOW, I loved the design and accepted that we could use the poster to advertise on our WNDA Facebook Page. We also discussed what days will be best to hold the Deaf Pub and we chose Friday as it’s the quietest night of the week.

We then decided to host it every 4^th Friday of the Month starting on 26^th April 2024. I did a BSL video to announce that I had set up the Deaf Pub and let everyone know when the launch night will be and posted the poster on the Facebook page.

I found it very easy to set up and get it running but the hardest bit was advertising as you never know if anyone is going to turn up or not, its very nerve wrecking!

I think its very important for all the deaf communities to meet up now and then, make friends and let them know they are not alone in this world. It’s important to have fun together, drink together, have a laugh, play pool, dance on the dance floor along with the karaoke, and the locals are very Deaf friendly and welcoming!

I know how it feels to be isolated and it isn’t very nice at all but this event has attracted a few deaf people and we’ve had some come all the way from Cambridge! They still come to this day and they really enjoy it. This event has also built my confidence up and I don’t feel as lonely as I used to be.

I used to go to social gathering through my young adult life, but it wasn’t the same because I grew up around hearing people and as usual Deaf people get left out in conversations. King’s Lynn didn’t have many Deaf people like me – as far as I knew. I only had one Deaf best friend in the town and it felt really nice to have more than one deaf friends go out with on social gatherings.

We hold the Deaf Pub at The Lattice House every 4^th Friday of the month, on Chapel Street PE30 1EG from 6pm to midnight. There are plenty of hotels, pubs, clubs nearby if you want to carry on partying! Hot food is served until 8pm and the pub hosts karaoke, live bands and many other things.

I haven’t got any future plans yet, but please keep an eye out on our West Norfolk Deaf Association Facebook page for any future plans or events.

I hope to see more Deaf communities come to the Deaf Pub here to help raise Deaf Awareness and get BSL recognised but most importantly make friends and have fun. Its great for your mental health!

If anyone is nervous about joining social gatherings, events or clubs, I have a word of advice for you. Face your fears and just do it!

By Grant Radford.