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.

Welcome!
We welcome all our new members, including Maryam Kamel and Ellie White, who were pupils at Birkdale School for Hearing Impaired Children. Unfortunately, the school closed last year.

We encourage all hearing and deaf students to come along to learn sign language, and to come and practice sign language with us.

Millennium Commission
The Millennium Commission have presented Maureen with a Special Certificate making her a “Millennium Awards Fellow”. It is a lifetime membership, which recognises her voluntary work as well as her commitment and dedication to making a difference in her community. She has also received a special letter, and a Unique Millennium PIN. Maureen can be found on the Starpeople site.

Fund-raising matters
A “Bag Pack Day” took place at Asda in May with help from PMP members. Bags were packed at the tills as members told customers about PMP and signing. Maureen provided more information near the entrance to the store. It was a successful event, and another one is planned for October with help from local Girls’ Brigade groups.

A fund-raising event at Holy Trinity Church Hall on 11th June was a fun and lively occasion where members took part in a number of bingo games.

Some members gathered together on Independence Day, 4th July, for a fun walk around the Marine Lake. This was arranged as a sponsored walk, and although we didn’t have many sponsors, the event was enjoyed by all those who attended.

Hearing Dogs for the Deaf
Alison Chester gave us a talk and demonstration on 17th May. She brought Dodger along with her. Alison gave a very interesting talk about hearing dogs and how they started, and how Dodger helps her on a daily basis.

Alison and Dodger are available to visit schools and clubs to talk about the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Please contact Alison for more details on 01704-228571.

Surprise for Maureen
Maureen Doyle, originator of Practice Makes Perfect, had a surprise recently in the post.

She received a letter in the post saying she had been nominated for the ‘Local Hero Award’ as part of the Help the Aged Living Legends 2004. They sent Maureen a lovely certificate to acknowledge this accolade.

Learning sign language
Maureen recently entertained 180 children with Signed Nursery Rhymes at a school in West Derby, Liverpool. The children were aged between 5 and 7 years. Alison Chester talked to the children about her hearing dog, Dodger, and explained to them how important Dodger is in her life.

Chantelle Rea-Bradley
Committee member Chantelle Rea-Bradley attended a course for Church Signing this month in Chester.

Southport Centre for the Deaf
Southport Centre for the Deaf, 19a Stanley Street, is open every Tuesday, 10pm to 12pm. Various events take place each Tuesday, and everyone is welcome to come along.

There is a Signed Church Service on the first Tuesday of every month.

The club is also open fortnightly on Saturdays, 11pm to 2pm.

King George V College BSL courses
King George V have been running CACDP BSL courses.

KGV have introduced CACDP BSL Level 1 to the curriculum for their full-time 16/19 year old students. Some 40 students started on the course in September 2003, of whom approximately 20 completed the course and sat the exam.

On 1st April the Minister of State for Further and Higher Education, Alan Johnson, visited KGV College Southport in recognition of the College’s outstanding Inspection Report in 2003, and its mentions in the annual reports of both OFSTED and ALI (Adult Learning Inspectorate) as being among the country’s most outstanding providers of 16/19 full-time and part-time adult education. As part of his visit he was introduced to Helen Zueger (BSL Level 1 student), and Louise Pitchers (profoundly deaf Web Design student who completed her course with the aid of BSL interpretation by Lynn Culshaw).

Welcome!
Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter!

Practice Makes Perfect was formed to provide people with the opportunity to develop communication skills in a friendly informal atmosphere.

Maureen Doyle set up ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ to raise deaf awareness, introduce the Manual Alphabet, and provide easy sign language lessons to help local people and organizations, giving them the chance to learn and practice these basic communication skills.

Christmas with PMP
We had a good attendance of about 30 people at our Christmas Social when we all did “signed singing” of nursery rhymes and Christmas carols. It was good fun, and enjoyed by all.

Certificates for the “manual alphabet” and “I Can Sing A Rainbow” were given to 24 attendees, which included a few children as young as 7.

Helen Zeuger recited her own poetry, and Chantelle signed Helen’s poem. Helen’s poems were very well received by the group.

Deaf Club Carol Service
St Helen’s signing choir made a big impression at Southport Deaf Club’s Carol Service. There were two children in the choir, Matthew, 10, and Keziah, 8 [Maureen’s grand-daughter]. It was wonderful to see such young children being committed to the learning of sign language and being in a choir.

Elim Church Carols by Candlelight
Maureen led the congregation with the signing of “Silent Night”, which has raised awareness to sign language in the Church. Members of ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ and Southport Deaf Club attended the evening. Maureen got a lot of sign language practice as she acted as Communicator for one of the members of the Deaf Club.

Fund-raising matters
Our application to Community Chest was successful, and we received the sum of £500.

A fund-raising event will be held at St Marie’s Church Hall on Tuesday, 24th February, starting at 7pm. This is a social evening with bingo, raffle and a tombola.

A “Bag Pack Day” is being planned at Asda with help from local Girls’ Brigade groups. PMP volunteers needed too for a few hours on a Saturday.

Details of when this will take place will be announced at the weekly classes, and on the website.

Hearing Dogs for the Deaf
Alison Chester is to be congratulated for all her hard work in raising awareness to the need for hearing dogs for deaf people.

Alison is now an after-dinner speaker and is also invited into schools with Dodger, her black poodle, to do demonstrations.

Alison and Dodger are available to visit schools and clubs to talk about the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Please contact Alison for more details on 01704-228571.

Alison’s latest fund-raising event, a hot pot supper and rock ‘n’ roll evening, was a great success.

Alison has agreed to come and give us a talk and demonstration on 17th May at 6.30pm. She will bring Dodger with her. A collection towards the training of a hearing dog will be made to Alison’s charity on the night. Please do come and join us!

Maureen on Help the Aged Millennium Award
It has made a real difference to me. My dreams have become a reality, and I am so happy to be able to help local people.

Learning Sign Language
The Training Days to introduce sign language into the community have been a great success.

Two Training Days were organised for the Community Voluntary Sector in Netherton. Some of the attendees were from Glaxo, Health Service Providers, and volunteers from friends of the Fire Service. All were successful in achieving a certificate of attendantance, and one for the “Manual Alphabet”.

These Training Days add much-needed funds to our bank account and we have been re-booked for further Training Days at the CVS in Yellowhouse Lane, Southport.

At half-term children from the Formby area will be learning the basics of sign language in a fun way with nursery rhymes and signed singing.

Local college offers BSL courses
King George V College on Scarisbrick New Road, Southport, offers BSL Courses at Levels I & II. Please contact Peter Walker on 01704-530603 for more details.

Thanks!
Maureen wishes to thank all our volunteers over the last year. We could not have managed without you.

Volunteers are needed to support the group in many ways. However little time you have to offer, your help would be appreciated.

It can be taking the register for the classes, photocopying, giving out information, helping newcomers, attending and helping with Training Days. Contact Maureen if you feel you can help in any way at all.