Deaf Friendly Director Sarah Lawrence meets the minister.

 

Sign Language Week is celebrated in March every year to acknowledge the formal recognition of BSL by the UK Government on the 18th March 2003 as a minority language of the United Kingdom.  This year, we were delighted to receive an invitation from the Welsh Government’s Education Minister to celebrate Sign Language Week by teaching the Minister some British Sign Language, or some Welsh Regional BSL to be accurate.

Jeremy Miles MS, the Education Minister was warm, embracing and determined in his learning, respecting the level of precision needed to use BSL well. “I found it quite a joyous experience,” Sarah Lawrence signed, “and the respect given to me by the Education Minister was top level, which can be quite a rare experience.”

Short videos of the Minister signing were promoted across social media platforms, receiving widespread appreciation from the Deaf signing community from across Wales.