Welcome to the UWE British Sign Language Society!
★ Society of the year for two consecutive years (2022-2024) ★
Meet the committee
President - Bethan Piper
Vice President - Chloe Kew
Treasurer - Bec Mardon
Media and Publicity Officer - Jenna Kerrigan
Are you interested in learning a new skill, making new friends and being part of an inclusive community? Our society is all about celebrating and learning British Sign Language, while raising awareness of Deaf culture. Whether you are a complete beginner or fluent, you will find a welcome space here.
Our Society's goals include:
Classes and BSL learning resources
We run regular classes including level 1 and level 2. These will help you develop a valuable life skill while creating opportunities to connect with others and have fun. Our classes are taught by an award winning Deaf teacher who has been teaching for over 20 years.
For students who want to improve their deaf awareness but cannot commit as much time, we also run free professional Deaf awareness CPD courses for healthcare and education students. We will advertise them when the time comes around.
As a society we believe that the absolute best way to learn BSL is from a qualified, Deaf teacher. It is for that reason that we leave the teaching to the professionals. However, if you cannot afford to join a BSL class, don't worry! We can recommend a ton of great online resources which you can work through in your own time. Even if you are a complete beginner, drop us a message or pop along to one of our events to find out how you can get started on you BSL journey.
Socials
Of course, we also love a good social too! This year the committee is committed to offering a wide variety of events in collaboration with different societies and universities. Each month we will be running regular social events both on and off campus, allowing students the opportunity to practice using sign language in a relaxed environment. We advertise these events on both our discord and instagram so make sure to get involved!
Previously we have ran some amazing events including a trip to Bristol Hippodrome to watch Mary Poppins, a Mario Cart fundraiser and a Deaf architecture talk and workshop. We have some great ideas that you can get involved with very soon.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our society and we hope you consider joining us this year!
If you have any questions feel free to email us at uwebslsociety@gmail.com or otherwise follow us on instagram - @uwebslsociety