BSL Charter for the Deaf Community in Brighton & Hove
The good news has finally arrived for the Deaf community in Brighton & Hove!
The BSL Charter was duly signed and made official by Brighton & Hove City Council on 10 June 2017 at Hamilton Lodge School & College for the Deaf. 40 organisations in Brighton & Hove have made their pledge to commit themselves in ensuring that access and equality to services are considered and applied promptly. See photo gallery.
In the next 12 months - DeafCOG, along with other Deaf organisations, will continue to advise and support Brighton & Hove City Council and the regional NHS / Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in delivering their pledges efficiently and effectively.
Since DeafCOG also cover East Sussex - we will endeavour to approach District and Borough Councils to follow Brighton and Hove City Council's lead (the first and only city in the south east of England to have a BSL Charter). This is our long term objective.
We will keep you up to date with the BSL Charter developments on DeafCOG's BSL Charter Forum which you can sign up to for free and on our social media such as Facebook and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our newsletter which is easy to sign up to and you can unsubscribe at your convenience.
How did it start in Brighton & Hove?
The Fairness Commission was set up to find out how to make Brighton & Hove a fairer and more equal place to live and work. Launched in September 2015, it was set up by Brighton & Hove City Council as an independent body.
The 12 commissioners on the Fairness Commission explored issues that cause inequality and listened to the concerns of residents, community organisations and businesses across the city.
The Fairness Commission's report highlighted concerns raised by Deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people. DeafCOG, met with council officials to discuss the inclusion of the BSL Charter.
This was followed by an invitation from Brighton & Hove City Council where numerous consultations were made between the Council and the Deaf organisations, including DeafCOG. In March of this year the BSL Charter was ratified by the Council committee which was a wonderful and historic moment for the Deaf community in Brighton and Hove.
A BSL version of the Fairness Commission's report can be seen below.
Updates (15/01/18)
Following the historic signing of the BSL Charter last year - 2 workshops were arranged and held by Brighton & Hove City Council and NHS Brighton & Hove Clinical Commissioning Group with the local Deaf organisations including DeafCOG. The workshops highlighted many access and equality problems and it was agreed by all that a forum called Brighton & Hove Deaf Services Liaison Forum (BHDSLF) should be established to tackle the problems along with Brighton and Hove Council and NHS Brighton & Hove CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group).
Brighton and Hove Deaf Services Liaison Forum Meetings
The Terms of Reference and Minutes of the the Forum are now available in BSL. Please click on the button below.
