Signing Christmas Carols fundraising event

Well done to the British Sign Language (BSL) society who recently held a Christmas carol service using sign language to raise money for the Brighton, Hove and West Sussex Deaf children’s society.

The society was set up two years ago by Sarah-Beth Parker, who is studying Primary Education (3-7 years) BA(Hons) with QTS. The group is open to all university students and includes members from a variety of courses such as English, nursing, paramedic, graphic design and teaching.

“I am hearing impaired myself and learnt sign language when I was at school, when the opportunity came up to start a society in first year I was elected to be President. I am qualified in BSL up to level 2 and teach the rest of the society. I also have experience working in a school for deaf children.

Sarah wanted to run a fun event that raised awareness and funds for a meaningful local charity and felt learning some Christmas songs seemed like the perfect thing to do. The society practiced for the event for five weeks, focusing on a new song each week.

Sarah said “We decided to perform on the Falmer campus, firstly in the Checkland Building atrium and then later on in the Hive bar, where we were also selling gingerbread men and mince pies. We also went knocking on doors around Checkland with the treats, taking some members of the BSL society to carol behind us. I am thrilled to announce that we raised £172.”

The society not only offers students the opportunity to learn an important and valuable life skill but also encourages student engagement across different subject areas.

To find out more about the British Sign Language society or to join, please visit their page on the Brighton student union website: www.brightonsu.com/organisation/societies/bslsociety/

Well done to our primary trainee teachers who have learnt British Sign Language to perform Christmas carols this afternoon and raise money for Brighton, Hove and West Sussex Deaf Children's Society. 🎄⛄🎄🎅🎄 pic.twitter.com/UwoSTKXmGP

— School of Education (@edubrighton) December 11, 2019