Celebrating Deaf Awareness Week
We’re holding a community event on Saturday 11 May to celebrate Deaf Awareness Week.
Deaf Awareness Week (DAW) takes place from Monday 6 May to Sunday 12 May 2024.
DAW is an annual event that aims to raise awareness about the Deaf community, celebrate Deaf identity, promote Deaf culture, and advocate for equal access to communication and services for the Deaf and hard of hearing.
It’s a time to come together and support the D/deaf community, learn about their experiences, and work towards a more inclusive and accessible society.
Deaf Awareness Week Community Event
- 9.30am to 1pm, Saturday 11 May
- Brighthelm Centre, North Road, BN1 1YD
Join us for a day of celebrating Deaf culture. The community event will provide a chance to share your views with representatives and learn more about the services and support available to our D/deaf residents.
There will be speakers, stalls and opportunities to share experience, build connections and network.
BSL interpreters will be available.
You can book your free ticket through Eventbrite.
For more details in BSL, watch the video invite:
The event is supported by our partners including SignLive, NHS Sussex, East Sussex Fire and Rescue and Surdi.
Supporting our D/deaf communities
Councillor Leslie Pumm, chair of the Equalities, Community Safety & Human Rights Committee, said: “Deaf Awareness Week is a time to celebrate the identity, culture and language of D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people, but also to increase the visibility of challenges they face and learn how to support them.
“Our vision is to make Brighton & Hove welcoming, inclusive and accessible for all irrespective of their access requirements, which is supported by our groundbreaking 5-year Accessible City Strategy.
“In Sussex, there is still a significant population of deaf individuals who often go unnoticed, face challenges in accessing essential services and have their needs not adequately recognised.
“As signatories of the British Sign Language Charter we want to reaffirm our commitment to learning from experiences of our D/deaf residents, increasing inclusion and removing barriers from accessing our services.
“This would not be possible without the feedback of people with lived experience. We are immensely grateful to all individuals and organisations who consult with us on regular basis.
“There's considerable work and learning that still needs to be done, so I invite everyone to join us at the community event to share their experiences, views and feedback on our services and learn about the support the council and our partners offer to D/deaf residents.”
