Action for Deafness

Action for Deafness relies on the hard work of our supporters to help raise funds for the charity in order to help us maintain free services for Deaf and hard of hearing people.

Here are some of our Supporter Stories

Rose Carter makes knitted items which are often for sale at our Resource Centres, recently she attended Eastbrook Primary School Christmas Fayre and sold some of her items raising £67 for Action for Deafness. This money can help fund volunteer visits to elderly Deaf and hard of hearing people who are housebound and without our help would struggle to hear.

Brian Carter donated a Hamper which was raffled at the Horsham Historics Christmas Party, this raffle made £50 for Action for Deafness, money, which will go towards Staff training to help Action for Deafness staff understand Deaf Blind Communication.

If you would like to fundraise for Action for Deafness please e-mail info@actionfordeafness.org.uk or vist the support us page of our website

Action for Deafness CEO, Jane Shaw, was invited to present one of the awards at The Signature Annual Awards Ceremony in the Plaisterers’ Hall, London Wall on Friday 18 November.

The Signature awards recognise and praise individuals and organisations for their dedicated efforts and tireless determination working towards a society that is more inclusive for deaf and deaf blind people. Jane presented the Organisational Award to STAGETEXT – very worthy recipients. The organisation’s captioning and speech to text transcription mean that the magic and power of live theatre can be an enjoyable experience for deaf audiences. STAGETEXT is considered a world leader in its field and Jane was thrilled to present them with this prestigious award.

A Discounted Will Writing Service for members & supporters of Action for Deafness. 

Legacies are the foundation for many charities in the UK and are vital in continuing their good work. So, you don't have to be rich and famous to make a contribution that can make a difference. We can all do something amazing just by leaving a gift in our wills to charity.

A way to help Action for Deafness

If you are thinking about writing a Will or amending an existing one, including a charity can be a very special way of helping good work to continue in the future.

Why do I need a Will?

It is important to write a Will to ensure those you care about will be provided for when the time comes. If you don't have a Will, your estate will be distributed according to current legislation, and if you have no surviving relatives, the Government is entitled to everything.

Making a Will is something many of us put off until it’s too late. The only way to ensure that the people you want to benefit from your estate in the event of your death is to write a legally enforceable Will. A Will helps avoid what might otherwise be complicated and sometimes unpleasant circumstances that those you care about will have to manage.

How Can you make a Will?

A will is a legal document and must comply with legal formalities. For this reason we recomend that you ask a Solicitior to help you write one.

Action for Deafness has teamed up with George Ide LLP, a highly respected firm of Solicitors to make this often daunting task a little easier. They will provide a Will making service at a discounted charge to supporters of .

You do not have to leave a gift in your Will to Action for Deafness to use this service.

George Ide LLP Solicitors will also make a donation to Action for Deafness.

George Ide LLP Solicitors are completely independent of Action for Deafness.

For more information, call 01243 831 006 or email paul.asling@geogeide.co.uk or click here. Alternatively you can contact the Law Society's 'find a solicitor service' at www.lawsociety.org.uk

The Final Report and Accounts of AFD for year ended 30 June 2010, as signed on behalf of the trustees by Chairman Roger Hewitt and Mark Clark and by Ian Weeks on behalf of auditors Crowe, Clark, Whitehill LLP on 18 October 2011 are now available to members.

The Final Report and Accounts for 2010-11 are now available. Please use your members' password to access this document.

Click here to view the document.

British Sign Language (BSL) users do not have equal access to telecommunications in the UK. Existing text-based services are slow and outdated – they force BSL users to communicate in their second language, English.

Video Relay Services (VRS) is a proven technology which creates equal access to telecommunications for sign language users, and for the hearing who wish to communicate with them. VRS has been universally available in the US for many years, provided by several operators.

VRS in the UK is not currently universally available; it will require support from the Government and the regulator Ofcom to make universal VRS a reality for BSL users.

Deaf organisations have today [13 October 2011] signalled their willingness to work with Ed Vaizey MP, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, to make sure deaf people can access the telephone, whether through, improved text relay, captioned telephony or video relay services.

The organisations participated in a meeting organised and chaired by Ed Vaizey and attended by MPs, telecommunications providers and Ofcom. The Minister called for flexibility and creativity in bringing about these changes which will revolutionise the lives of deaf people across the UK.

The Minister made it clear that he is committed to the establishment of a fair and equal service, and called on the telecoms industry and deaf organisations to work with him to find the right solutions.

Following the meeting and led by the UK Council on Deafness, organisations representing Deaf Sign Language users first delivered a 3,000 signature strong petition to Downing Street calling for the government to introduce a video technology service that will allow Deaf people to use the telephone in the same way as everyone else.

Deaf people have consistently said they should be able to use the phone 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, and at the same price as everyone else.

David Buxton of the British Deaf Association said, “We’ve been have been clear that Deaf Sign Language users should be able to call colleagues, friends and relatives in the same way that hearing people take for granted every day. The Deaf community won’t be told when they can and can’t make those calls. We are not seeking special treatment, we are just asking for fairness and equality.”

Jack Sandover of Hearing Concern Link said “Hearing Link firmly believes that hard of hearing people should benefit from captioned telephony at the earliest possible time as we are unable to make use of the current Text Relay. Captioned telephony for us is the most functional equivalent telephone service restoring our full independence in our lives both socially and in the workplace.

The UK Council on Deafness hailed the meeting as a success. Jim Edwards, Chair of UKCoD said, “We are really pleased with the outcome of today's meeting. We are looking forward to working with Ed Vaizey and telecoms providers to make sure the UK develops effective video relay, captioned telephony and enhanced text relay services so that deaf people use the phone in the same way as everyone else.

For more information please go to:

- UKCoD http://www.deafcouncil.org.uk

- BDA http://www.bda.org.uk

- Hearing Link http://www.hearinglink.org/

For the past 10 years, the charity STAGETEXT has been providing captioned performances in theatres across the country enabling deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people to enjoy a wide variety of plays, musicals and pantomimes. It also helps theatres to set up their own captioning service, and trains technicians and local captioners so they can deliver the service in house.

What are captions?
Captions are similar to television subtitles but include extra information that is helpful to deaf and hard of hearing audiences, such as character names, sound effects, offstage noises and musical descriptions. The captions appear on an LED screen (or screens), placed next to the stage or sometimes in the set, in 3 rows of 3” amber letters which scroll upwards as the action unfolds on stage.

A trained captioner prepares the captions in advance, ensuring they mirror the rhythm and flow of the actors’ performance. On the day of the captioned show, they cue the lines so that the words appear at the same time as the actors speak or sing, taking care not to pre-empt any jokes or important plot points. This means that deaf, deafened and hard of hearing audience members laugh or react at the same time as everyone else.

There are several short films on the STAGETEXT YouTube channel where you can see captioning in action (Captioned Performance at New Wolsey Theatre), An Introduction to STAGETEXT Captioning), plus feedback from deaf, deafened and hard of hearing theatregoers. You can find these at: http://www.youtube.com/user/stagetext

To join the free STAGETEXT mailing list to receive details of captioned shows around the country, email Rosie Holmes (rosie@stagetext.org) or take a look at the What’s On page on their website: www.stagetext.org/performance

Access to museums and galleries through live speech-to-text

STAGETEXT has recently launched a new Live Events Project which provides access to talks and lectures in museums and galleries through live speech-to-text transcription. Talks have recently taken place in London at the Royal Academy of Arts, National Gallery, Wellcome Collection, Transport Museum and, this autumn, the Hunterian Museum and Archives.

Statistics gathered after the talks indicated that 57% of the audience found the speech-to-text helpful, despite only 15% of the audience having declared themselves as deaf, deafened or hard of hearing at the time of booking.

One deaf visitor commented: “It was the first time I’d seen speech-to-text transcription and it was great. There were about six lines so you could look at the picture and not lose your place. This is the way forward in access to museums and galleries for deaf and hard of hearing people.”

Deepa Shastri, our Live Events Officer is working closely with a wide range of museums and art galleries to programme more accessible events. To receive details of future talks, please email: deepa@stagetext.org or keep an eye on the STAGETEXT website: www.stagetext.org

More information

STAGETEXT, First Floor, 54 Commercial Street, London E1 6LT.
Tel: 020 7377 0540 Textphone: 020 7247 7801 Email: enquiries@stagetext.org

Photograph shows deafened actor, Tim Barlow, as Tyblat in Romeo and his Juliet at the Bristol Old Vic. Photo: Mike Lusmore

Red Oaks Nursing Home in Henfield has made Action for Deafness its chosen charity and presented our CEO, Jane Shaw, with a cheque for £660 on 4 August.

Cathy Cobbold has delivered Deaf Awarenss Training to the staff of Red Oaks and AFD volunteer, Lyn Sheppard, provides a hearing aid maintenance clinic for the residents.

Photograph shows volounteer, Lyn Sheppard, with some of the Red Oaks residents.

Chicester Festival Theatre has programmed their first captioned show in the main space. This will be the musical Singin' in the Rain on Saturday 6 August at 2.15pm. STAGETEXT are very keen to get as many deaf and hard of hearing people along to make it a huge success, then hopefully the theatre will programme more captioned shows.

Action for Deafness are very keen to get a group of people together to attend so if you wish to attend the show please do get in contact with us by email info@actionfordeafness.org.uk, tel 01444 415582 fax 01444 415587 post 5a Hazelgrove Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3PH.

This is a musical to lift your heart and set you singin' and dancin' - in any weather.

Action for Deafness are thrilled to annouce you can now order online.

We have an extensive range of assistive listening devices available in our online shop.

Please click on the below link to visit our new SHOP.

http://www.actionfordeafness.org.uk/shop