The Manx Deaf Society will be providing free British Sign Language and lipreading sessions ahead of Deaf Awareness Week 2023.

The week will take place between May 1 to 7, with this year’s theme being access to communication.

The free sessions will be held on Saturday, April 29, to mark the start of the week.

The sessions aim to provide attendees with an opportunity to learn more about deaf culture and communication and gain a deeper understanding of how to communicate effectively with deaf people.

Each session has 12 places available.

The sessions are 45 minutes long and are for anyone who is interested.

The BSL sessions will run at 1pm and 2pm, and the lipreading sessions will run at 3pm and 4pm.

Lucy Buxton, the chief executive officer of Manx Deaf Society, said: ‘Improving communication is important for members of the public, businesses, and organisations.

‘Effective communication is essential to success in any setting and learning basic BSL and Lipreading skills can help people to communicate more effectively with members of the deaf community.’

She added: ‘We are delighted to offer these free BSL and lipreading sessions to the community as part of Deaf Awareness Week.

‘We believe that everyone should have access to the tools and resources they need to communicate effectively, regardless of their hearing ability. Effective communication is essential in today’s world, and we hope that these sessions will encourage more people to get involved and support the deaf community.’

‘Deaf Awareness Week is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions of the deaf community and to promote understanding and awareness of deaf culture and communication.’

According to the Manx Deaf Society, hearing loss affects approximately one in six people in the island.

This increases to two in five of the over 50s and seven in ten of the over 70s.

On average, people wait seven to ten years before asking for help about their hearing loss.

For more information contact The Manx Deaf Society at [email protected] or call 613059 or text 202875.