Information and Awareness Day
PMP is hosting an Information & Awareness Day on 26 March at the Lakeside Leisure Centre in Southport. This free event will run from 11am-4pm. Fairways car parking is just over the road for £1 all day.

The event aims to raise awareness to what our voluntary group has to offer for people of all ages: classes, training, workshops introducing the basics of fingerspelling, lip-reading, and sign language etc. at minimum cost. Also to raise awareness to the services, groups, organisations, training and support that is available for people who have a sensory inpairment and also to support their hearing families and friends.

We want services, teaching and communication skills groups that support people with a sensory impairment to be involved. Even businesses that supply equipment etc. If you know of or run a group or service that could be included in our event please contact Maureen on 01704 546626 or 07960 984306 (text or voice).

Please forward these event details to all your contacts and spread the news. Our Facebook page and website will be updated.

New wall display at JLC
New wall display and new banners set up at Joint Learning Centre, our Friday afternoon venue at 54 Bath Street.

Fire alarm alerter
An important fire alarm product for buildings so deaf people are warned: http://www.deaf-alerter.com

Sign-writing blog
Suzanne, the SignWriting tutor from Holland, who presented our Workshop has started a blog to help others learn. You can find it at http://writebsl.wordpress.com

2010 Dada Festival
Dada Festival takes place in Liverpool 18 November – 3 December.

Mayor’s Charity Fund
Many thanks to the Mayor’s charity fund for the donation of £300 we have just received. This will enable us to continue to provide Communication and Sign language skills at our venues. Members contributions are still only £2 per session if you are working, concessions £1. Refreshments are free.

Learn to Sign Week
Maureen Doyle and volunteers from Practice Makes Perfect, recent winners of The Spirit of Merseyside Award, raised awareness for “Learn to Sign Week” at the Baby and Bump event in Southport on 2 October.

Over 200 R.N.I.D. sign language booklets together with Deaf and Deaf/blind fingerspelling cards were given out to the hundreds of mums and dads who attended with their babies. Most of the parents expressed an interest in wanting to learn “baby signing” in order to communicate with their babies before they could speak.

Maureen said “Congratulations and well done Amy and all those who participated to make it such a wonderful day and great success. This was the best attended event organised by a member of the public that we have ever been apart of and I’m sure we will be having an increase in numbers attending our group to learn sign language and other communication skills.”

The event was organised by Amy Thompson to raise funds for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

2010 Annual General Meeting
Our 2010 AGM was held on Monday, 20 September. Click the link to download the 2010 Annual Report.

Spirit of Merseyside Awards
Practice Makes Perfect was shortlisted for the Grassroots Project of the Year at the Spirit of Merseyside Awards.

The prestigious Spirit of Merseyside Awards took place at Liverpool Cathedral on Thursday 17 June 2010. This event celebrated the hard work, dedication and effort of groups who have received funding from the Community Foundation for Merseyside over the past 12 months.

Also shortlisted for the Project of the Year Award were Southport Sub Aqua, Southport Formby Athletes and Bluey Baloo.

The winners were decided by an independent panel of judges, who visited the groups to ask questions about their projects. New Reality Media filmed all the groups and the films were shown at the event as part of the award celebration, which included a 3 course meal and entertainment.

Practice Makes Perfect won the Grassroots Project of the Year Award at Liverpool Cathedral last Thursday. Well done to everyone! Photos from the Awards here.

Sutton Sign-writing Workshop
Our first Sutton Sign Writing workshop was held on 27 August. Suzanne Pach (from Holland) was the tutor for the day. Included to take home were some new SSW learning/teaching aids & resources just made to aid learning. Maureen also included her own “Basics of Sign Language” DVD so users could see her technique of helping others to learn. This was filmed live at one of our sessions.

Photos from the Sutton Sign Writing Workshop are here.

The new BSL SignWriting Dictionary has been set up by Valerie Sutton, the creator of SignWriting and it is online now for British Sign Language users to learn from and to add their own signs. Free downloads of lessons in SignWriting here.

Diversity at Southport College
Our stall at Southport College was very well received. 100s of fingerspelling posters, bookmarks and sign language booklets were given away at the event in April.

Thanks to Mavis for volunteering for the day and looking after the stall whilst Maureen did three workshops for both pupils and teachers.

Event at Bishop David Shepherd School
The event in March 2010 at Bishop David Shepherd School was a great success. Maureen presented three 45 minute workshops to 6 classes and their teachers. The school has planned to watch our DVD on Mondays to learn and practice signing together. Everyone joined in and had a fun time. Thanks to Jenny Iveson for volunteering and being there at all the sessions.

Vowels & Alphabet video
Maureen managed to upload a short video she made with a borrowed camera. It’s entitled Vowels & Alphabet – click here to watch.

Christmas Party 2009
Our Christmas party was held on 14 December. Thanks to everyone for bringing contributions for the buffet table. Sheila brought hot sausage rolls.

It was an opportunity to celebrate the new funding from The Big Lottery fund. They awarded us £6.115 for running costs for 1 year. We have received the cheque.

Carol G. popped in to see us and made a donation of £20 towards our funds.

Keziah sang a couple of songs for us, including “How much is that doggie in the window?” with her poodle puppy Ruby, who joined in with barks at the right places as Keziah has been training her. We sang and signed “Silent Night”, our favourite Carol.

Tina won the big Christmas Teddy.

Donations
We received £6,115 from Awards for All. It will make a difference to our group as it will help to cover the running costs for 2010 (excluding venue hire).

We received a donation of £150 from the Duchy of Lancaster. Many thanks for this kind addition to our funds.

Meal at the Pageant
Funded by Grassroots, our meal at the Pageant was marvelous. 22 people attended and every one really enjoyed the evening. The food was fantastic.

It’s been a while since we have seen Hilary and Ruth so we were all happy they made it to the meal. It was lovely to see them again. My thanks to everyone for making it a special evening. Thanks to Margie for bringing and looking after Mary from Crosby. Our youngest learner Lucas was there too with his Mum and Grandmother, Maria, our Treasurer.

The day after I received a magnificent bouquet of flowers from Mary. Many thanks to Mary for them. My thanks also to Hilary and Ruth for their Thank You card.

Annual General Meeting 2009
We held our 2009 AGM on Monday, 21 September. The 2009 Annual Report for the year has been published.

YAT Group Workshop
In August 2009 members of the YAT Group attended Workshops at the Joint Learning Centre in Yellowhouse Lane, Southport.

Their intensive training in the basics of Sign Language and other communications skills were well received. On Day 2 the students were able to sign questions and have a general conversation with our deaf volunteer Mavis Husbands. It is a great achievement for them all.

Monitoring forms for training courses are always completed and these show that everyone enjoyed the workshops. All forms are available to view on request.

BSL e-book for iPhone/iPod
Nick Sturley, in association with DeafEducate, has announced the introduction of the world’s first ever British Sign Language (BSL) ebook app for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, covering the first four volumes of his Tales From Signtown fairytales.

Funding news
A £1,000 cheque has been received from P. H. Holt Foundation. Many thanks go to them for this funding, which will help our group tremendously.

Thanks to a Grassroots Award of £4,710, PMP will be able to secure their Marian Centre venue for the next 3 years. The award will also fund BSL Level 2 training for volunteer Mavis Husbands.

Laptop
Milly using laptopOur new laptop, paid for with a donation of £500 from the Henby Trust, has been very popular at each of our venues. Members have been using the fingerspelling DVD quiz setting at its slowest level, and this has helped with receptive skills.

The photo shows Milly, our newest member, using the laptop at the Joint Learning Centre on Yellow House Lane.

We thank the Henby Trust for their very kind contribution.

Liverpool Hard of Hearing Club
Starting from 12 May, the Liverpool Hard of Hearing Club are holding Coffee Mornings fortnightly at Merseyside Society for Deaf People on Queens Drive. This runs from 11am to 2pm, and will continue until 14 July when it closes for the summer break. It re-opens on 8 September. The club also meets Wednesday evenings 7-10pm.

Certificates
10-year-old Dominic Woods has received his first certificate for finger spelling the alphabet. He accomplished this within half an hour of attending his first class at Practice Makes Perfect.

Jennifer Iveson on the Friday course received her first finger spelling certificate on 1 May.

Colette McCoy has finally received her BSL Level 1 certificate.

Some of our other members have also received certificates for passing BSL 101 and 102. Photos of all these people receiving their certificates can be found on this page celebrating their achievements.

Brighter Living Partnership
Maureen and Mavis attended another Brighter Living Partnership meeting on 30 April. Many excellent networking contacts were made with various groups, including the police, the Diabetes Group, the newly formed Transition Group and many others. Our handouts are to be inserted into the BLP information packs that they deliver to members of the community.

Art Exhibition
Mavis and Maureen at their recent Art group exhibition raising awareness to the work of Practice Makes Perfect and what it has to offer.

Hand made cards were sold to raise funds.

Death by Deafness
Alex Nowak is directing a short film about a teenage deaf girl who goes through depression, isolation and neglect with devastating consequences. The film, Death by Deafness, has some talented deaf and hearing actors involved. There will be signing in parts of the film, but subtitles will be present throughout so all will understand. More on the project here.

Computer program helps lip-reading skills
A computer program* to help people learn to lipread has been developed by David Smith. More information is available on this website. It has been added to our Links page.

*Please note that the program will only run on Windows computers that have the Microsoft .NET Framework installed; Windows Vista has this installed by default, but other versions do not. It can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

CVS Annual General Meeting
Maureen Doyle and Mavis Husbands recently attended the Annual General Meeting of Southport Community Volunteer Service. They had display boards and many of our leaflets were given out. They had the opportunity to chat with members of various groups.

Diversity event at Southport College
On 1 & 2 April, PMP were at Southport College’s first Diversity Event.

Maureen Doyle and Mavis Husbands were at the college from 9.30am till 3.30pm both days. Display boards and table information leaflets were available for the students and staff.

Maureen gave talks on both days to the students and staff.

Joint Learning Centre
From Friday 3 April, we began meeting at the Joint Learning Centre on Yellow House Lane from 1.30pm till 3pm instead of the Arts Centre.

The sessions at Southport Arts Centre on Thursdays are therefore now cancelled. The Monday sessions continue as normal at the Marian Centre on Bath Street North from 6 to 8pm.

18 young people attended a Sign Language and Deaf Awareness session at the Joint Learning Centre on Yellow House Lane on 11 March. Maureen thanks the centre for the donation of £35, and for allowing us to use the centre for our classes from April 2009.

BSL Zone
OFCOM has welcomed the launch of the Community Channel’s BSL Zone, which is dedicated to showing TV programmes presented in BSL.

These signed programmes are broadcast on Wednesdays & Saturdays 8am, 2pm, 8pm & 2am, and Sundays 6am, 12pm, 6pm & 12am. You can find these programmes on Freeview 87, Sky 539 and Virgin TV 233.

Newcomers
Over the last few months we have had 9 new members, including 3-year-old Jacob and 10-year-old Dominic. We have an audiologist (Level 2) and a support worker for a deaf student (Level 3).

Dominic mastered the finger spelling alphabet in just half an hour, and then started helping another new member Pam, who is 77, with her hand shapes with the finger alphabet. This was an inspirational “bridging the age gap” moment. Dominic received his first certificate on 11 May.

Earlier in the year we welcomed two new members; Reetha from Finland, who introduced us to Finnish signs whilst learning BSL, and Joya from Poland.

We welcome them all.

ITV Signpost
ITV SignPost has a new website, bringing the best contemporary children’s stories to deaf children.

www.signedstories.com gives free, online access to the wonderful world of children’s literature with BSL, sound, animation and text. And there’s a wealth of storytelling information and advice for parents, carers and teachers.

The website is supported by and features some of the UK’s best known names, including Dame Evelyn Glennie, Dame Helen Mirren, Robbie Coltrane, Sir Trevor MacDonald, Kevin Whately, Monty Panesar, Ricky Hatton and deaf author Joyce Dunbar.

CACDP changes its name
CACDP is now known as Signature.

Mamma Mia!
Southport Vue Cinema has been showing Mamma Mia!, an adaptation of the West End stage musical, based on the songs of ABBA.

The cinema has indicated they could provide a subtitled screening of this film either during a weekday morning or an evening if there is sufficient demand.

Please let Maureen know if you’re interested, and a group booking could be arranged.

Prince of Wales Networking Day
Several organisations attended the Link/Hearing Concern event at the Prince of Wales Hotel on 8 August, including PMP, Southport Centre for the Deaf and Hear Here.

Mildred Taylor and Maureen Howe represented the Tuesday Club whilst Maureen Doyle and Mavis Husbands were there on behalf of the Saturday Club as well as PMP. Maureen D. was the first to volunteer to say a few words about PMP, and Mavis talked about the Saturday Club followed by Mildred for the Tuesday Club.

Alison Wareing was there on behalf of Hear Here. Sue was the lipspeaker.

BSL users can learn Highway Code
A new book & DVD to help BSL users learn the Highway Code has just been published. It costs £9.99 and is available from TSO Online Bookshop.

NDCS Listening Bus
On Saturday, 5 July, Maureen & Mavis went to the Southport Centre for Health and Wellbeing on Hoghton Street to see the NDCS Listening Bus.

The NDCS Listening Bus is a touring information bus, which provides advice for deaf children and their families. Inside the Listening Bus, visitors can learn about new technology such as vibrating alarm clocks, flashing doorbells and text/video phones.

Some more photos of the Listening Bus can be found here.

PMP forums closing down
Our forums have been removed from this website due to lack of use and as such is a wasted use of internal resources. However, we still have the use of Southport Forums where you can leave messages of your thoughts, stories and ideas.

Certificate for Maureen
Maureen has been nominated for a Nationwide Community & Heritage Award. It is in the Individual category. She has received a certificate.

Good news for New Year
Good news for the New Year – we have received a £455 cheque from the Mayor’s Fund. A letter of acknowledgement and thanks has already been sent. This money will go towards paying the rent at the Marian Centre.

Summer Palace
Practice Makes Perfect members were invited by Lisa Cheug to spend Saturday, 27 October at Greenlands Art Gallery in Liverpool to see the flower arrangement that we created for her “Summer Palace” Art Sculpture at this year’s Southport Flower Show.

The Exhibition ran until Christmas. Photographs from our visit to the gallery appear in our Photo section together with those showing the various stages of the making of our special “plant” as well as those from the flower show.

Sad news
We were sorry to hear of the sudden death of 12-year-old Natalie McCabe, one of our Childrens’ BSL Level 1 Course members. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.

Annual General Meeting
We held our AGM on 17 September. Maureen Doyle gave thanks to many people and groups who have supported PMP over the past year, including her Secretary Mavis Husbands and Treasurer Maria Nolan. Tony Wright was thanked for all the work he does in maintaining the website, and Ian Leadbetter from Sefton CVS for his help in getting the accounts organised.

Chantelle Rea-Bradley resigned as Deputy Chair, but remains as a volunteer. All other officers were re-elected.

Maureen reported she had done many talks and workshops during the year, and these are set to continue into 2008. There has been much public awareness of the group’s work, especially when Maureen received the Community Champion Award from the RNID. Acquiring the portable DVD players is a real boost to the group, and the start of the Children’s BSL Level 1 Course is the beginning of new prospects for PMP with the addition of a new adult course beginning Monday, 24 September.

Our Childrens BSL Level 1 Course started on 3 September.

The Community Voluntary Services August Bulletin has included the R.N.I.D. press release about Maureen Doyle’s nomination and recognition as a Community Champion. The bulletin is circulated to over 500 voluntary groups throughout Southport and Merseyside.

Isabella raises money for the group
One of our very young members, Isabella, made cakes and had a sale at her garden gate. She donated £5.35 to our group.

Isabella came to one of the Ainsdale Library sessions then started coming with her Mum to the Thursday afternoon group at the Arts Centre.

Childrens’ BSL course
Practice Makes Perfect have been granted funding by the Local Network Fund for Children and Young People (Merseyside), and is delighted to offer twelve young people, aged 11 to 16 years, the opportunity to take an accredited Level 1 course in British Sign Language.

The ‘guinea pig’ for the course was Keziah (11 years) to see how the course would work with youngsters. At only 11 years old, Keziah is one of the youngest children in the country to receive her certificate for the unitised Level 1 British Sign Language Exams. Keziah has volunteered to provide peer support for the course and will be in the class each week to share her knowledge, along with her teacher.

Students will contribute only £20 to the course, which includes course fee, exam fees and refreshments (usual inclusive cost would be £155).

The course will run 4 – 7pm starting from Monday 3 September, 2007 until 28 January, 2008.

An adult course (16+) will run 7-15 – 9-15pm starting Monday 24 September, 2007. Places are limited; the course only fee is £90. Exams and refreshments are optional extras.

Cath Smith book
Our thanks go to Cath Smith for sending us a FREE copy of her latest book, Let’s Sign Family Topics: BSL for Children and their Carers. This book costs £7.99.

Also a sheet of new Merit Stickers with “Let’s Sign” children’s characters making signs. Each sheet contains 10 separate sign designs in lines of 7 of each design, 280 stickers in all for £4.99.

Please contact Maureen if you want to purchase any of the books.

Southport Flower Show
Practice Makes Perfect helps our signing to blossom and grow – this is the phrase to describe the flower creation that was displayed in a window of Lisa Cheung’s “Summer Palace” wall sculpture at this year’s Southport Flower Show.

Maureen said: “Lisa Cheung travelled from London to invite us to create an arrangement to be included in her sculpture. We all have had great fun in making it and we decided to add little pictures of hands doing the Signing Alphabet to each pink petal. This represents the blossoming of skills as everyone grows in confidence.”

Some of our members met up with a group of children from Merseyside Deaf Society when they viewed the sculpture.

BDA Conference
Mavis & Maureen met up with Helen, Peter, Christine and her husband at the BDA Conference on Wednesday, 8 August.

Unfortunately, not many people came for the social evening, and the hall was closed at 9.15pm.

Meols Cop Youth Centre charity event
On Saturday 4 August, Maureen attended a Charity event organised by Shelley Tomkins from the Meols Cop Youth Centre to support local charities Scope and Vitalise.

The event was to highlight youth involvement with local charities, and was situated outside the Liberal Democrats’ offices on Shakespeare Street.

As Maureen chatted with the stall holders and young people, she was able to show them her workshop DVD on our new portable DVD player.

Portable DVD players
We thank the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board for funding three portable DVD players.

We can now show signing DVDs at our practice sessions, courses, talks and training days to support student learning.

It was in use at the Southport Arts Centre on Thursday, Ainsdale Library on Friday morning for the Childrens’ Learning to Sign session and on Saturday at the Meols Cop Youth Centre charity event.

Well done Mavis!
Congratulations to our Secretary, Mavis Husbands, on passing BSL Level 1.

Meet-up with Usher Group
On Saturday 23 June, Practice Makes Perfect committee members Maureen, Chantelle, Mavis and Jackie met up with Manchester’s Usher Group for their visit to Southport.

Our day was indeed a great success. Nine members arrived by train at 1.30pm to a beautiful Southport sunny day. Following a discussion with hands-on signing, Sign Language, lip patterns and voice, it was decided to go to Cafe Nero for refreshments. We discovered there was a birthday so we all signed and sang Happy Birthday to her!

Later it was decided a stroll to the Pier would get some fresh air into our lungs. Some members set off at a brisk pace having decided to walk the length of the pier while others having health conditions took a more leisurely stroll taking joy in just chatting and signing. The smell of chips stopped us in our tracks and we all had a few freshly made chips to satisfy our taste buds. Onwards to the Carousel area where we sat and watched the world go by, and a few photographs were taken.

We kept in touch with The pier walkers by text and when they returned we made our way to Leo’s Pub for a birthday drink in the sun then back to our cars/train for the journey home. A very satisfying day. Thank you everyone for making it so.

RNID Community Awards
To celebrate Deaf Awareness Week, the RNID searched the country for local champions who are changing the world for deaf and hard of hearing people. Barbara Shields from Southport nominated Maureen Doyle from Practice Makes Perfect for one of these Community Awards.

Barbara says: “In the last 5 years since I have known Maureen, she has lived and breathed the importance of learning Sign Language. And despite not being in the best of health herself, she has so consistently given up her time and energies, it is hard not to be impressed by her remarkable dedication to ‘reach and teach’ the local and wider community about the importance of Sign Language in today’s society.”

Dr John Low, Chief Executive of RNID, says: “Maureen Doyle has done much to improve the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people in Southport. RNID has been working to overcome the barriers and stigma faced by deaf and hard of hearing people for more than 95 years. However, we cannot do this without the continued support of local people, who raise awareness of hearing loss in their communities, encourage best practice or dedicate their lives to helping deaf and hard of hearing people in some way just like Maureen Doyle.”

BDA Conference in Southport
The BDA Annual Conference is in Southport from Wednesday August 8 to Saturday August 11, and will be at the Floral Hall. Cost is £15 per day, but attendance on the Wednesday is free.

Something Special
Something Special on the CBeebies site has signing practice for young children.

Blitz, Bitz and Friendz
In April PMP was pleased to announce the start of another evening session at the Marian Centre. This is different to the Monday session in that it is more of a social evening with games and fund-raising.

There are two groups: a ladies’ group meeting in the main room called Blitz, Bitz & Friendz, and a second group in another room where PMP members can practice, improve and share their Sign Language skills.

‘Blitz, Bitz & Friendz’ is an opportunity to play Blitz, a Dutch card game, and other board games including Scrabble, Upword, Countdown and Draughts.

Volunteers are needed to run the library, refreshments and raffles.

Admission is £2, which includes refreshments and a free raffle ticket.

[This group no longer runs, but is mentioned here for historical reasons.]

C.V.S. Annual General Meeting
The C.V.S. held their AGM in March at Waterside Lodge, and they asked Practice Makes Perfect to put up a display. Maureen, Chantelle and Maria all attended.

Learning to Lipread CD
Dr Mary Allen Ph.D. sent us a small supply of her Learning to Lipread CD. The cost is £30 plus p&p £2.50. Her CD is a great learning aid for people needing to learn how lipread and who are unable to attend a course locally.

We have also received a free CD for our Library.

Taster sessions at Southport Library
From March the monthly Taster Sessions at Southport Library changed to the new start time of 1.30pm.

Communication needs for deafblind
Maureen has met Linda Lawson, Regional Development Officer for DeafBlind UK to share information and chat about communication needs in the community. Part of Linda’s job is to visit people in their own home to give them help and advice.

DeafBlind.UK have a 24-hour Helpline. The number is: 0800-132320.

We have always included the Deaf/blind alphabet in our practice classes, and this year we intend to raise public awareness that there is a need for knowing how to do the Deaf/Blind manual alphabet.

Some members of our group said that they would like to learn more about Braille and know how to write Braille ourselves. One of our members, Anne Bradley, has been able to provide us, on a long-term loan basis, with a grid for writing Braille and information about the Braille alphabet. One is for reading and another for writing.

Southport’s local Blind Society is in Wright Street, and is open 10 till 3pm, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Enquiries to: Lawrence Paton on 01704-534555.

The Torch Fellowship meet at Canning Road Church once a month on a Saturday. Contact number is 01704-226670.

Healthier Ageing event
Maureen Doyle and volunteers from Practice Makes Perfect were at Martin Mere at the end of March for a “Healthier Ageing Event” organised by West Lancashire Age Concern. The event brought together many groups and charities.

Visitors had the opportunity to join in the taster sessions of Sign Language, Chair Exercising, Art and Gardening. The Line Dancing was a great success as was the scheduled walks as it was a lovely sunny day.

Members from Ormskirk’s Hard of Hearing group and the Royal National Institute for the Blind were also available to talk about their work.

BT launches broadband campaign in BSL
In March BT launched a new campaign to help promote the benefits of broadband services for deaf people in British Sign Language. BT’s BSL Broadband Guide was launched on 18 March, and should be viewable here.

Waitrose March bag-pack
Saturday morning came, and Southport was covered in snow. It was so thick that it took Maureen half an hour just to brush it off her car, and de-ice all the windows.

Our bag packing day had arrived, but would volunteers and customers stay at home because of the weather? Customers and volunteers did brave the elements, and as the day progressed, the sun appeared and the snow melted. The day went very quickly as we all packed bags, and chatted with 100s of customers about our Sign Language group.

On behalf of the Committee, Maureen thanks all the volunteers for their help: Maria, Tony, Sue, Chantelle and Mavis.

Many thanks to the Management, employees and customers at Waitrose for their interest, support and donations. The total collected was £180.50.

Millennium Volunteers
Maureen had a marvellous two days with a group of Millennium Volunteers in February. They were all eager to learn about Sign Language, and very soon they were singing and signing nursery rhymes as well as making new friends whilst signing about themselves to other members of the group.

Tuesday, 21 February was a memorable day because Mavis Husbands, an invaluable member of Practice Makes Perfect, came to meet the teenagers. Mavis is also a member of the Centre for the Deaf in Stanley Street, Southport.

The Millennium Volunteers appreciated the opportunity to use their newly acquired skills, that is, being deaf aware, using finger-spelling, signing and using clear lip patterns by chatting with Mavis. Their questions to her were about hobbies, holidays and family. Everyone agreed that they had gained confidence and experience.

Sefton Social Care Partnership
Maureen Doyle, Originator and Chairperson of Practice Makes Perfect, attended the Sefton Social Care Partnership at the Floral Hall, and she wants to congratulate Sefton Council, the organisers of the event. Maureen says, “It was obvious that “Disability access” and the Communication needs of the delegates were high on their agenda.”

The Communication options that were available were:

• a microphone for the Speaker
• interpreters for the hearing-impaired
• a lipspeaker for the hard of hearing
• a Palatine operator and laptop for those needing to read the speaker’s words
• audio translation for the visually impaired

“The event was very interesting, and I will be getting involved with the sub group dealing with Sensory Impairment and Disability”, said Maureen.

Parenting 2000 at Sure Start
During January and February, Maureen facilitated a 5-week course entitled ‘An Introduction to the Basics of Sign Language’ for young mums at the ‘Parenting 2000’ group held at the Sure Start Centre in Bootle.

Those attending made amazing progress, and they all received 3 certificates: one for attendance, one for the Manual Alphabet and one for Sing a Rainbow (in Sign language).

They were a very enthusiastic group who have stated that they want to continue to practice, and learn more from our website and Internet links. Arrangements will be made a further course in the future.

On the last day Maureen was surprised to receive a lovely handmade ‘Thank you’ card with comments on their experience.

RNLI Luncheon Club
Maureen attended a RNLI Luncheon Club in Ainsdale on Tuesday, 7 February. They have a list of speakers who talk to the group on all manner of subjects.

Maureen presented a talk entitled ‘A Sign of the Times’. The afternoon was a resounding success, and everyone participated. The meal was excellent too!

Christ the King School talk
Maureen was invited to Christ the King School on Friday, 13 January to give a short talk on the subject of “Communication Skills and Sign Language”. The group had some profound and interesting questions. Arrangements are being made for a return visit.

Annual General Meeting
PMP members had an interesting talk on Fire Safety and prevention on Monday, 26 September.

The AGM also took place that evening. Maureen presented the 2005 Annual Report, which includes thanks to the many supporters of PMP and the accounts.

Christ the King School Careers Evening
The Careers’ Evening at Christ the King School on 10 November was very successful with many of the students and their parents showing interest in the work we are doing.

Thanks go to volunteer Maria Nolan who went along to support, especially as it was her birthday.

Diversity Open Day
PMP provided two Sign Language Workshops at a ‘Diversity Open Day’ organised by the National Probation Service on Wednesday, 5 October. The event took place at the Bridge Chapel Centre, Heath Road in Allerton, near Liverpool.

70s Disco in aid of NDCS
Maureen Doyle and Mavis Husbands attended a 70s Disco & Buffet at Shorrocks Hill Country Club on 22 July.

This event was organised by Pam Lazano in support of the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS). The evening was a great success.

Hands That Talk
Jean Shingler of the ‘Young at Heart’ Group at the Southport Salvation Army recently wrote a poem entitled Hands That Talk – please read it.

Kirklees Council Awards
Kirklees Council has won two awards for BSL videos on their website. See the story at eGov monitor.

Line dancing at the Leisure Lakes
Our day at the Leisure Lakes on 27 August proved to be very successful. We sold teddies, some word searches, and a few fridge magnets raising over £45. The volunteers during the afternoon were Maria & Natalie Nolan, Mavis Husbands and Maria Lavender.

Barbara Shields and Maureen Doyle stayed for the presentation of books and videos from the Phoenix Rebels in the evening. We sold even more teddies raising over £42. Maureen also gave away many word searches for free, and if people return them completed, they will receive a certificate.

We also met Greywolf, who does The Trilogy and poems in North American Indian Sign Language. He may come and give PMP members a demonstration in the future.

Communicating with patients
SignHealth has developed software to help health professionals in primary care (GP’s, nurses, receptionists, etc.) communicate with their patients when an interpreter is not available.

The Department of Health report Mental Health and Deafness …. Towards Equity and Access, published in March 2005, recommends SignHealth is made available in primary and secondary care as speedily as possible. The recently published A Practice Guide to Ethnic Monitoring in the NHS and Social Care also recommends that SignHealth is purchased by health trusts.

A demo of the software can be seen on the SignHealth website. To use this, you must enter the following password to get in: tghdse49

PMP members pass BSL Level 1 exam
PMP members Hilary and Ruth Smith have passed their BSL Level 1 exam. Congratulations to them both!

Hilary and Ruth have sent comments about their experiences with Maureen and the group, and these appear in the 2005 Annual Report.

Millennium Volunteers learn basic BSL
Millennium Volunteers were introduced to the basics of Sign Language at the C.V.S. on Yellow House Lane in Southport on 25 & 26 July.

The volunteers were awarded four certificates for Attendance, Manual Alphabet, Numbers and Sing A Rainbow. They were given the opportunity to earn a further certificate by completing a Manual Alphabet wordsearch.

Here are some comments from the Millennium Volunteers:

The classes were highly enjoyable … Maureen made me realise how important sign language is and how enjoyable it can be.

Maureen’s clear enthusiasm and passion for the lessons shone through … made the course thoroughly enjoyable.

This was great fun! Loved the songs.

The speaker showed great enthusiasm in sign language and really made me want to study more into sign language.

Southport Deaf Club AGM
The Southport Centre for the Deaf held its 107th AGM on 20 July. It was mentioned that the Tuesday Morning Club has had a great year, and they still have a busy calendar ahead with some interesting trips planned.

Environmental aids
Environmental aids are now available from the W.R.V.S. at the Community Voluntary Service (C.V.S.) on Yellow House Lane, Southport. It is open Tuesdays 10am-12pm and Thursdays 12-2.30pm.

Please note there is an appointment system as they are very busy with this new service.

Sefton Carer’s Day at Dunes Leisure Complex
The Sefton Carers’ event at Dunes on June 16 was well attended. Phil Rodwell from southport.gb chatted to all the exhibitors and took photographs. Many people stopped to chat to Maureen about her work in the community.

A video was made for Sefton Council of the exhibitors, and Maureen was able to introduce herself and PMP as well as demonstrate the Manual Alphabet and sign a bit of Old MacDonald Had A Farm.

Fire Safety Team reaches ASDA
Members of Services for Deaf/Hard-of-hearing from the Fire & Rescue Service came to ASDA in May to support PMP during Deaf Awareness Week.

We gave out their leaflets informing people of their service to provide every home in Merseyside with a ‘Home Safety Check’ and smoke alarms.

Members of the Fire & Rescue Service will be giving a Fire Safety talk at the Marion Centre on Monday, 26 September. The Fire Safety team has two Deaf Advocates so this talk will be especially useful for deaf people using sign language.

This talk is open to PMP members, members of local Deaf Clubs, and anyone learning sign language.

Labour candidate chats to Maureen
Local Labour candidate Paul Brant made time during his busy schedule to visit the ASDA store on Derby Road during the Election campaign to chat to Maureen Doyle about PMP and their voluntary work in the community.

This was the third year that ASDA and Southport’s local Sign Language group, Practice Makes Perfect, have worked together to support Deaf Awareness Week.

Maureen and 10 volunteers from ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ had an interesting time giving out information, talking about Deaf Awareness and Sign Language. Customers were helped with their bag packing, and a total of £202.50 was raised for the group.

PMP sends a big THANK YOU to ASDA and everyone who supported us.

Sign language training for Millennium Volunteers
Maureen Doyle will be presenting two days of training in Sign Language for the Millennium Volunteers at Southport’s Community Volunteer’s Service (CVS) on 25 & 26 July.

PMP video library
PMP is to start a video library for its members. The following videos will be available:

• Glass Blowing Demonstration (with signing) – March 2005
• TV programmes with BSL – various
• The Miracle – black & white film about Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, her teacher
• The Miracle – a more recent colour film
• The Miracle Continues – film about Helen’s later life at Ratcliffe College and beyond
• Documentary about Helen Keller’s life
• Maureen’s Sign Language Workshops at King V College

Trip to Pilkington’s Glass Factory
Members of PMP went on a trip to Pilkington’s Glass Factory with Southport’s HoH/Deaf Club in March. Maureen acted as Communicator for the day.

The glass blowing demonstration was very interesting, and as Maureen translated and signed Jackie Aughton videoed her as well as some of the demonstration. A short video will be available soon.

Accreditation certificate for Maureen
Maureen Doyle has received her Accreditation Certificate for the work she did in 2002 on The Citizens’ Action Millennium Award Programme in conjunction with her sign language project ‘Practice Makes Perfect’. You can see a copy of the certificate here.

The certificate was confirmed by the Quality Committee of the South of England Open College Network. The results were:

• 1 Credit at Level 2 – comparable to NVQ2, Intermediate GNVQ and GCSE grades A*-C
• 1 Credit at Level 3 – comparable to NVQ3, A Level and AS Level

Maureen’s University Tutor, Peter Unwin, said of the results:

I am delighted.

Shelbourne PROBUS talk
Maureen Doyle gave a talk to the Shelbourne PROBUS group on 24 February. After a short introduction on how, when, where and why she started PMP, Maureen got those present doing a brief practice of the Manual Alphabet.

The person leading the PROBUS group said to Maureen when he thanked her at the end she had them “eating out of her hand!” She actually had them signing and singing Sing A Rainbow, Fish Alive, Old McDonald and Farmers In His Den. Maureen says it was good fun, and a donation of £25 was made towards PMP funds.

Following this talk, Maureen received a letter of thanks with a donation of £10 from the Shelbourne PROBUS Club. You can read the letter here.

Monday classes move venue
On 14 February, the Monday sign language class moved venue to the Marian Centre on Bath Street North from Elim Church on Manchester Road. The Marian Centre has been refurbished and has disabled access, disabled toilets and kitchen facilities for refreshments. Please note it is a ‘No Smoking’ centre.

There will be a weekly raffle and a monthly bingo session to raise funds.

New members are welcome, but please e-mail Maureen to register your name and details.

Girls Brigade pick up signing certificates
50 girls from St. Simons & St. Judes’ Girls’ Brigade have gained “Dactylology” certificates. Dactylology is the art of talking with your hands, and in November Maureen Doyle presented the certificates to girls aged 6 to 13 years.

The photo shows some of the girls practising the sign for “sister”.

Over a four week period, the girls learnt to fingerspell the Manual Alphabet and practised some basics in Sign Language, singing and signing nursery rhymes and Christmas carols.

The evening of Achievement ended with a beautiful rendition of Silent Night, signed of course!

Raising money for the NDCS
Lynn Siddle and her mum, from Craig & Taylor’s clothes shop on Lord Street, held a Fashion Show at the Prince of Wales Hotel to raise money for the National Deaf Children’s Society [NDCS]. The event raised around £800 for the NDCS, and Lynn is also planning to do a bike ride in South Africa next March, also for the NDCS.
Source: Midweek Visiter – 3 Nov.

Sign Language Awareness Week 2004
The ‘Sign Language Awareness Week’ at Southport’s ASDA store was a great success, thanks to the volunteers and those who popped in to see us during the three days we spent raising awareness to sign language.

Maureen and her band of volunteers were in the store on October 20th, 21st and 23rd from 10am till 5pm.

Well done to the girls and the Girls’ Brigade Leaders for their efforts with the Bag Pack on the Saturday! The Bag Pack raised £222.46, and this was shared with the Girls’ Brigade.

Money raised from our raffles came to £148, and the draw took place at 5pm on the final day. Prizes were collected from Barbara Shields at ASDA. The Barbie car was won by one of our own Monday evening class members.

Subtitled cinema
There are subtitled films shown at the Vue Cinema, Costal Road Complex, on Sundays 3.25pm and Tuesdays 6.10pm.

Helen Zueger
One of our members, Helen Zueger, passed an interview for Work Experience in Woolworths. She has a Certificate in British Sign Language Level 1 [Communication Section]. The Southport Visiter called Helen an “inspirational woman”. Congratulations to Helen!

Helen took part in the pantomime Katy Crackernuts at the Citadel in St. Helens in December. Helen is in middle, bottom row of photo.

Hearing gene discovery
According to Nature magazine, scientists think they may be able to develop treatments for deafness due to the discovery of the gene that controls the process of hearing. See Health Talk for more information.