Signing practice group starting in April

A new signing practice group will be starting Monday 8 April from 6pm till 8pm alongside the 12-week course.

This group will be for signers, past members and recent learners to use their signing skills and develop confidence in signing with other people.

Fee will be £5 each session.

Email maureengndoyle@hotmail.com to register your interest.

New 12-week courses for Autumn 2023

Starting in September, Practice Makes Perfect will be running two 12-week courses. These will begin on Friday 1 September 1-3pm, and Monday 4 September 6-8pm.

Please register your interest as soon as possible if you want to attend either of our 12-week courses. Note that as well as structured planned classes, there will be homework to do.

Suggested donations per class is £3. Refreshments will be free.

To register, email Maureen at maureengndoyle@hotmail.com with your name, address and day you want to attend. Alternatively, phone Maureen on 01704 546626 (evenings only).

2022 classes have begun

Classes have started. New learners welcome. Fridays 1.30-3pm or Mondays 6-8pm. No charge. Voluntary donations are welcome.

Classes restarting in July

We are re-starting classes 6-8pm on Monday 12 July and Friday 16 July, 1.30-3pm.

New people wanting to attend must ring Maureen on 01704 546626, afternoons or evenings, or text 07960 984306 with full details.

Please bring a clear face shield if you have one or one will be provided free of charge.

December 2019 Newsletter

Sign language classes restart on Monday 13 January, 6pm to 8pm. School age children allowed (accompanied) 6pm to 7pm on Mondays. Afternoon classes start Friday 17 January, 1pm to 3pm.

We are based in the Blue Room at The Salvation Army, Shakespeare Street. Southport.

Baby signing class will start 1pm on Monday 13 January. We meet in the Salvation Army café, Shakespeare Street, Southport.

Text your details to 07960 984306, or ring the landline afternoons or evenings on 01704 546626.

July 2019 Newsletter

Sign language classes  – new term start dates
Monday 2nd September, 6pm to 8pm
Friday 6th September, 1pm to 3pm

We are closed in December as everyone is so busy getting ready for Christmas with school events and Christmas meals.

Our Christmas meal will be on Thursday 5th December 1pm
at The Mount Pub. Manchester Road. Southport. I will be organising names and menu choices in November.

Monday afternoons
Baby signing with Practice Makes Perfect meet up at The Salvation Army cafe is on throughout the summer holidays – Monday afternoons at 1pm until 2pm. Our class members are welcome to come along too as I will be there for a couple of hours.

Thursdays at the Mount
Our Thursday midweek meal and subtitled movie at The Mount Pub on Manchester Road. Southport will continue throughout the summer holidays. If you would like me to reserve you a seat at our table, please text 07960 984306 on Wednesday before 6 pm. I book on Wednesday evenings. You can of course always ring the Mount or message them via their Facebook page.

Monday 29th July
We had a new mum Natasha with her baby only 15 weeks old.
Her eyes lit up as I was showing her the sign for “milk” and she definitely tried to sign milk before they left.

Emma’s daughter Eva (aged 3) brought along her vegetables and fruit from her kitchen as she wanted to learn the signs for them. She is a very quick learner and is teaching signs to her baby sister Amarah all the time.

This evening was our last class for this term. Many thanks to all who attended and those who made cakes to celebrate Mary’s birthday. Welcome to Sarah, and her daughters Lola and Kate.

We all played the Shopping Game, which was fun for everyone. It’s a great way to use the same signs every time but adding 1 new one as each person took their turn and chose what they had bought. We also love “I went to the zoo”.

We received Resilience Funds of £1,500 in January and we have been able to give BSL dictionaries to our members. We were also able to buy “Topics for Tots” which we laminated and made into flashcards. They have been given to our mums so that they and the children can learn and practice at home. Mavis has been laminating them all so they are durable. Thank you, Mavis.

Thank you to Debbie who has also been doing some laminating for our group. Thank you to Barry for printing out our posters. Some were given out at the Deaf Centre Funday. Thank you Tony for continuing to host our webpage; I do depend on you and
I really appreciate your help. Thank you to all volunteers who have been photocopying our handouts so that all new learners have a set to go with my DVD so that they are able to learn and practice at home.

Have a lovely summer. If you need any help please do email me or message me and I will do my best to help you.

Happy holidays!
Maureen

May 2019 Newsletter

Maureen writes:

I’m posting a lot on our Facebook pages and Pinterest board files so please join them and see all the posts. They are interesting and informative.

We recently received £1,500 from the Resilience funders. We paid £300 to The Salvation Army. We have been based there for 5 years now.

We have been able to buy 30 of Cath Smith’s BSL dictionaries and they have been given FREE to some of our members. We also bought 10 of Cath Smith’s latest book Topics for Tots and 10 sets of House and Home flashcards. These are being laminated and will be turned into flashcards so that they are easy to handle by the babies/toddlers and will be durable. Thank you to Mavis and Debbie for taking on the job of laminating all the resources.

Thank you to Tony for looking after our website and to all those who volunteer to make the refreshments. Thanks to Amy for making and printing out fingerspelling word searches every week. They are so popular with both the children and adults.

Our Thursday meal and the subtitled movie at the Mount is very popular and will continue throughout the Summer holidays. No classes during August. All our classes are flourishing and every class is different and enjoyable.

This year we had a member, Citalli, who came from Mexico especially to attend our classes (she found us on the web). She was already skilled in Mexican sign language and American sign language and could speak other languages. Citalli is now in Norway with her new job as a tour guide. We will be keeping in touch via emails and Skype.

My best wishes to everyone.

September 2018 Newsletter

The current term will end on Monday 26 November and Friday 30 November. These end of term dates will include food and fun.

Our Monday class will be closed on 8 October as most of us will be at the Little Theatre for Oliver with BSL interpreter. On 30 December at the Little Theatre, there will be Cinderella, also BSL interpreted.

The new term in 2019 will begin Monday 14 January at 6-8pm and Friday 18 January at 1-3pm.

Christmas meal at the Mount will be on Thursday 6 December. The date has been booked already as the Mount is very popular with other groups and Maureen wanted to be sure PMP has its usual day. There will also be a subtitled film. When the menu is available, Maureen will be taking deposits and meal choices. The price will probably be similar to last year. If you are attending please get in touch with Maureen on 07960 984306.

September 2017 Newsletter

Community Church
On Sunday 29 May 2016 a few of us attended the Salvation Army Sunday service. This service was to recognize and introduce all the groups using the Community Church. Maureen and Mavis signed The Lord’s Prayer.

2016 summer holidays
It was announced we would be closed during August 2016 as there are usually events on at the Salvation Army Community Church / Centre. The group will, however, be meeting up on Monday evenings at a pub where we can eat/drink if we wish to whilst we chat/sign. Classes started again on Friday 2 September and Monday 5 September 2016.

Young Learner
I want to say huge congratulations to Erin. At just 11 years old, she did a Deaf Awareness and Sign language presentation for her Brownie troop talent show. All the children’s parents and grandparents attended.

She earned her entertainment badge. Her presentation consisted of the vowels (she wore one of our gloves which is a special teaching aid).

She sang and signed

(1) The alphabet
(2) Old MacDonald had a farm
(3) The farmers in his den
(4) One, two, three, four, five; Once I caught a fish alive
(5) Sing a rainbow

I believe it would have also earned her a communication badge to add to all her others. Very well done. We are very proud of you especially as you have only had 4 lessons. You obviously have been practicing at home.


Maureen

Making donations to support PMP
We originally set up an option for users to make a donation via PayPal to help fund the ongoing running costs of the group. The use of PayPal was discontinued in favour of the GoFundMe service which visitors to our website might find easier to use. However, the link to the GoFundMe page was removed as the campaign was not continued beyond its expiry date. Thank you to those that donated to our group through this method of fund-raising. If you wish to support the group financially, please contact Maureen.

Mayor’s Charity Fund
In April 2015 we received a lovely letter from the Mayor of Sefton’s Office with a cheque to the sum of £259.91 to help our group. Many thanks to the Mayor of Sefton’s Charity Fund.