Sign Language Week is Social Media Triumph

With the backing of local radio, businesses, and celebrities such as Caroline Quentin, with over 100 videos created, the British Sign Language Celebration (BSL) Week campaign, run by Exeter Deaf Academy, SignUp BSL and Deafinite Interpreters has been a great success.

The campaign hoped to get as many people as possible filming themselves signing their name and the organisations were inundated with clips. A video guide was produced to allow everyone to take part and footage was shared over Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest using the hashtag #loveBSL.

Caroline from Heart South West’s breakfast show tweeted it was their “absolute pleasure” to get involved. Exeter Dental Centre agreed tweeting “We're proud to join @DeafiniteTerps @DeafAcademy & @SignUpBSL to support British Sign Language Week”.

The support for the campaign was wide and varied and included Ashfords Solicitors, Café 55 in Topsham, Devon & Cornwall Police, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Interserve Construction, local Councillors and MP Ben Bradshaw as well as SignUp’s BSL students, the Academy students and staff and many members of the public. Exeter Deaf Academy would like to extend its thanks to everyone who got involved. The videos can be viewed at http://www.exeterdeafacademy.ac.uk/watch-your-videos.

Students at the Deaf Academy also celebrated the week with talks from Deaf role models such as surfer Harry Hilliar and Deaf lifestyle magazine, SL First’s, editor Sarah Lawrence. The students also took a trip to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum to see a 200 year old mug with a BSL fingerspelling alphabet design.

Steve Morton Director of Fundraising and Marketing said: “We are delighted so many people have supported our campaign. Not only have we been able to celebrate, and raise awareness of, this beautiful language, but it’s enabled more people to find out about the critical role BSL plays in the Academy’s ground-breaking work with Deaf students.”

If you would to learn a little more British Sign Language, Exeter Deaf Academy are running a free day course on 15th June. Contact Jayne Dingle at jdingle@exeterdeafacademy.ac.uk  or 07789450230.