Colleagues were recently invited by the Sensory Impairment team to take part in an action-packed BSL Awareness session.
Part of our commitment to raise awareness of North Ayrshire’s diverse communities and to reduce inequalities, the session was well-attended by 20 colleagues.
The October session at Saltcoats Town Hall was a chance to bridge the gap between hearing and deaf people.
Attendees ranged from colleagues working in Communities, Health and Social Care staff, Democratic Services and Education.
Everyone had the chance to discover the basics of the British Sign Language alphabet, learn about challenges faced by deaf people and to find out more about other lesser-known communication methods and non-verbal communication cues.
Roisin Scrimshire, Vision Rehabilitation Officer in the Sensory Impairment team delivered the session.
She said: “Thank you to our colleagues from right across the Council who made it along to the recent BSL Awareness session, the more informed our employees are the better we can support our local communities…
“Everyone was so enthusiastic and gave it their all on the day, sharing their own motivations and experiences along the way.
“As well as providing an introduction to BSL where everyone had the chance to learn how to spell their names and take part in an interactive BSL game, the session also provided us with a vital platform to shine a spotlight on the important work of the Sensory Impairment team and the range of services we deliver to the blind, visually impaired, deaf, hearing impaired and deaf blind communities.”
The session coincides with this year’s launch of the three Ayrshire’s Shared British Sign Language (BSL) Local Plan for 2024 to 2030 – approved by North Ayrshire’s Cabinet in May 2024 to help ensure BSL users can happily live, learn and work in – and also visit – the region.
The BSL (Scotland) Act 2015 requires public bodies in Scotland to publish plans every six years, showing how they will promote, and facilitate the promotion of the use and understanding BSL in Scotland.
This is our second Ayrshire Shared BSL Local Plan developed in partnership with Ayrshire College; East, North and South Ayrshire Councils; East, North and South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnerships and NHS Ayrshire & Arran.
The priorities set out in the plan have also been informed following engagement with members of the Ayrshire Society for the Deaf, BSL students from Ayrshire College, the Ayrshire Deaf Education Service and representatives from Elderbank Primary School in Irvine, Grange Academy in Kilmarnock and Greenwood Academy.
To find out more about the work that the Sensory Impairment team do, visit the dedicated webpage.
For more help and support with BSL, please consult the following resources:
- Contact Scotland – Scotland’s national BSL video interpreting relay service
- Ayrshire Hearing Impairment Service – YouTube channel with videos to help you learn BSL for various topics
- British Deaf Association (Scotland) – services for deaf people
Based upon the Scottish Government Plan, our BSL Plan 2024-2030 sets out ten long-term goals for BSL in Ayrshire, covering:
- public services
- early years
- school education
- post-school education
- training and work
- health, mental health and wellbeing
- transport
- culture and the arts
- justice
- democracy
It describes the actions we and our partners will take to progress towards these goals:
Watch the playlist of signed videos on YouTube.
Feedback from colleagues taking part included:
“This has given me an awareness of the different supports that the Sensory Impairment team can provide, it also was a brilliant networking opportunity, and I felt comfortable trying out the BSL alphabet in front of the group, so helped with my confidence as many first-timers there too.
“I will definitely be learning at home now as want to develop my skills further”.
“I learned how to spell using BSL, and it gave an awareness of things around BSL and hearing impairments that I otherwise wouldn’t have known.”