The co-chair of Worcester Deaf Children’s Society tells us about the valuable work they do for their local deaf community (BSL)

A warm welcome from all of us at Worcester Deaf Children’s Society (WDCS) –  my name is Rachel.

I find myself in a very lucky position to co-chair this magnificent charity alongside some incredible people including; Maria my co-chair, Tim our treasurer, Tilly our parent representative and secretary, Lisa our fund raising champion and Amanda our committee member who has worked within the Deaf community for over two decades.

I joined the WDCS committee back in September 2021 after attending a few events with my husband and two young boys. It is a pleasure to work in a team that provides crucial support and activities for Deaf children, CODA children and their families. alongside our fantastic local Deaf community.

The Worcester Deaf children’s society was set up roughly 25 years ago and our new committee was established in May 2022. Our charity extends to the whole of Worcestershire, therefore we ensure to organise exciting events all over to encourage maximum coverage and participation.

We have forty families on our ever growing database and aim to provide a range of activities to suit all ages and interests. Some of our highlights include; a Nerf party, BSL panto, an animal man and a trip to the Buzz, an inflatable, adventure park, where the children ran around like mad and supported each other to get up steep slopes!

I can speak from personal experience when I say the WDCS has been a lifeline to us as a family. I, my husband and my children have been included and supported.

Rory my youngest son, now age five, is Deaf and we are all hearing – I had never met a Deaf person before. The charity has given Rory a chance to build relationships with other Deaf children and for him to see and connect with older members of the Deaf community.

Rory uses a total communication approach which includes British Sign Language, speech and visuals. As a family we are all learning BSL, myself and Rory’s dad are currently undertaking level 3 and my hearing son Reuben, who is age seven, has just completed a beginner’s course in sign language.

The feedback we have received from our families has been extremely positive and the children are developing real, authentic relationships, filled with laughter and joy.

In addition to this, we have been able to support parents when dealing with a new diagnosis and sign posting them to other support they can receive.

Our parent rep Tilly is the chair of our local Children’s Hearing Services Working Group (CHSWG) and ensures our parents receive updates and information regularly.

As a charity we have offered BSL introductory lessons to parents, deaf children and siblings. We invite the whole deaf community to our events and having such wonderful role-models for the children has brought the community closer together.

Initially the biggest barrier we faced as a family was understanding Deafness, what this meant for Rory, how best to support our child and where to go and find this help!

Then of course communication, after the restrictions from the Covid 19 pandemic were lifted we had a Deaf tutor come to our home to begin to teach us sign language, we then as a family began our BSL journey.

This emphasises the beauty of our charity where communication is not a barrier to attend our events or develop relationships. We have children who wear hearing aids, cochlear implants or do not wear devices. We have children who use speech, BSL and both.

We strive to normalise the beauty and spectrum of deafness and Deaf culture in a safe, warm, inviting environment.

The WDCS is lucky to have a committee member who is applying for grants and funds as much as possible, however this is not easy to come by.

We are a very small charity and rely on the kindness of our friends, family and community. Recently we have applied for a grant from the NDCS to fund some more sign language courses. We are keeping everything crossed and hope so much the comes to fruition, as I can speak from experience what a difference this has made to Rory and our family.

Having said this, we understand that the costs involved can be a huge barrier to some families with the cost of living, if we can help to remove this barrier, even just a little we know the difference it can make.

So now it’s nearly the end of 2024 and I can reminisce over the last two and half years with a huge smile. The pinnacle however, for us as a committee, has to be our latest Christmas party where we felt everything we’ve worked so hard for fell into place.

The children were comfortable to play and interact with each other, some learnt carols in BSL, some had their face painted, and other made beautiful crafts or went bonkers in our photo booth.

Not only this, our Deaf role models dispersed and mingled with parents and children. The children used a range of communication methods to play and laugh together and had the best time. We could not have wished for more.

So you may ask, what is the value of the group? To which I’d reply, read this article again please!

To find out more about WDCS, see their details below: 

www.worcesterdeafchildren.co.uk

Instagram- worcsdeafchildrensociety

Facebook page – Worcester Deaf Children’s Society UK

worcdcs@gmail.com