International Day of Sign Languages!

International Day of Sign Languages

International Day of Sign Languages 23 September 2024

Monday 23 September 2024 is International Day of Sign Languages.

This annual celebration, hosted across the world in conjunction with International Week of the Deaf, represents a unique opportunity to support, raise awareness and protect the linguistic identity of sign languages.

There are over 300 different sign languages and over 70,000 people in the UK have British Sign Language as their first language.

How the Trust supports our communities

The Trust is committed to ensuring that we can offer the best available support in terms of supporting these patients and their community, with our interpreting services working closely with our partners from Cambridgeshire Deaf Association (CDA).  

To gain a better understating of the specific communication needs of Deaf community we have worked in partnership with our local communities by reaching out to charities and specialised agencies such as CDA, for their in-depth knowledge and expertise regarding needs of Deaf people.  

To rise to the challenges posed by the national shortage of BSL interpreters, in 2019 the Trust introduced Sign Live endorsed by CDA, which is now the preferred way of accessing remote on demand BSL interpreters.

This service is available to patients and staff on all Trust mobile devices including 50 Interpreters on Wheels throughout the Trust.  By increasing access to BSL interpreters through technologically advanced remote platforms alongside face-to-face interpreters, the Trust is aiming to deliver an inclusive service for the local Deaf community.

In 2023-2024 alone, we have supported our local Deaf community with BSL/Deafblind manual interpreters on:  

  • 570   appointments conducted with a Face-to-Face interpreters
  • 3500   minutes used on remote platform Sign Live

In addition to working with Cambridgeshire Deaf Association and our interpreting providers, there are some fantastic staff and volunteers who can sign and be able to have a non-clinical conversation with patients and visitors, helping to provide support and help.