BSL Celebration Week

DEAF ACADEMY ASKS EVERYONE TO  CELEBRATE BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE

Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education, SignUp BSL and Deafinite Interpreters are calling for everyone to support an online campaign for Sign Language Week from 17 – 21 March. The exciting BSL (British Sign Language) Celebration Week campaign, running across social media, encourages people to learn how to introduce themselves and communicate their name in sign language and then film it and share it online. The organisations have produced a video guide for everyone to be able to take part in celebrating British Sign Language and want people to use the hashtag #loveBSL to get as many people involved as possible.

Sign Language Week marks 11 years since BSL was officially recognised as a British language on 18 March 2003. Last year to celebrate the 10th anniversary Exeter Deaf Academy students and staff marched to Devon Country Hall. This year Exeter Deaf Academy has worked with SignUp BSL and Deafinite Interpreters to produce the video guide and finger spelling alphabet so people can learn how to introduce themselves, sign their name and ask ‘What’s your name?’ in sign language to pass the campaign on.

Steve Morton, Marketing and Fundraising Director at the Exeter Deaf Academy said: “The Deaf Academy is a wonderful bilingual environment and BSL is an essential part of that. We would like people to join our BSL Celebration Week campaign to understand a little more of what we do here as well as learn some of a beautiful language. We hope everyone will show their support by filming and uploading their clips”.

​Everyone is invited to take part and the footage can be filmed on any device; phone, webcam, camera etc. All the details of the campaign including the videos can be found at www.exeterdeafacademy.ac.uk/BSL-celebration-week  The three organisations have created three videos, teaching viewers how to sign “Hello. My name is… What’s your name?”. The campaign will be running across the Exeter Deaf Academy’s Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages and will use the hashtag #loveBSL.

The Academy students will also be participating with their own BSL activity week. Through art activities, workshops, inspirational guest speakers, discussion groups and more, students will celebrate not only their language but their identity and culture. They will also learn about the importance of the recognition of BSL as a UK minority language.