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The UK Council on Deafness is the national infrastructure organisation for charities and professional bodies. Many of our Member Organisations are specialists and are better placed to make informed comments than we are. If this is the case then we are happy to refer you to the most appropriate source of information.

2008 PRESS RELEASE

'Look At Me!' 2008

The 5th - 11th May is Deaf Awareness Week and organisations working with deaf people across the country are inviting you to ‘Look At Me’. The theme aims to improve understanding of the different types of deafness by highlighting the many different methods of communication used by deaf, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing people, such as sign language and lipreading.

There are 9 million deaf or hard of hearing people in the UK, that is 1 in 7 of the total population. Deaf Awareness Week is a unique awareness campaign bringing together over 100 deaf charities and organisations under the umbrella of the UK Council on Deafness.

According to Jonathan Isaac, Director of the UK Council on Deafness: “UK Council on Deafness are delighted to be coordinating Deaf Awareness Week. This is a tremendous opportunity to promote the positive aspects of deafness, promote social inclusion and raise awareness of the huge range of local organisations that support deaf people and their family and friends.”

A series of posters and an information leaflet are available to support the week’s activities. The posters encourage people to look at someone who is deaf or hard of hearing when communicating, so that they can see people's lips and facial expression. The leaflet displays interesting facts about deafness and gives examples of ways the public and businesses can become more accessible to deaf people. These materials can be downloaded from the campaign website at www.Look-At-Me.org.uk

The campaign week will also be celebrating the proactive access policies implemented by major UK companies and organisations to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing people are treated fairly and have equal access. B & Q, Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham International Airport, The Greater London Authority, Sadler's Wells, Lloyd's TSB and University of Wolverhampton are just a few participating in the week to offer useful examples for others to follow.

Mike Fairey, Deputy Chief Executive, Lloyds TSB says "Offering facilities such as subtitles on staff training videos and induction loops for customers is both easy and cost efficient. We believe that these measures will have a profound impact on deaf and hard of hearing people's experience of dealing with the bank and will bring significant benefits to customers, staff and the organisation as a whole."

For further details on local events in your neighbourhood, along with facts and figures about deafness and deaf issues, go to the campaign website www.Look-At-Me.org.uk

Good practice case studies are available for interview on request. Contact details can be found on the campaign website www.Look-At-Me.org.uk

Notes to editors:

· The UK Council on Deafness is the national infrastructure organisation for voluntary sector organisations working with deaf people and aims to improve and extend co-operation between member organisations in promoting and representing the diverse interests of deaf, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing people.
UK Council on Deafness, Westwood Park, London Road, Little Horkesley, Colchester CO6 4BS.
Tel: 01206 274075 Text: 01206 274076 Fax: 01206 274077
email:info@deafcouncil.org.uk website: www.deafcouncil.org.uk

Date of issue: Wednesday April 23 2008
Release date: Immediate

ITV TO SCREEN SIGNED CITV SHOWS FOR DEAF AWARENESS WEEK

ITV will be signing a weekend of TV shows for the nation’s deaf children to celebrate Deaf Awareness Week 2008.

Sign language experts at ITV SignPost – the company’s specialist access services business based on Tyneside – will translate a host of popular children’s shows into British Sign Language (BSL).

The shows will be broadcast on CITV between 1:30pm and 6pm on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May.

Malcolm Wright, Managing Director of ITV SignPost said: “We are always delighted to support campaigns which raise awareness about the UK’s deaf community.

“Deaf children like to enjoy the same programmes as their hearing peers and to share the experience with them.

“By providing BSL access, they will have the chance in May to see a range of

ITV’s award-winning children’s output.”

The theme of this year’s campaign is ‘Look At Me’, designed to highlight the different ways deaf people communicate, such as sign language and lipreading.

For more information please contact:

Malcolm Wright 084488 15201
malcolm.wright@itv.com

Notes to editors:

· An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 deaf people in the UK use BSL daily – along with hundreds of thousands of family members, friends, professionals working with the deaf community and students of sign language.

· The British Association of Teachers of the Deaf (BATOD) estimates that there are 30,000 children under 16 in the UK with significant levels of hearing loss.

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