Breaking down communication barriers between deaf and hearing people is at the heart of our vision for our New Deaf Academy in Exmouth.

So, to mark the third day of Exmouth Deaf Awareness Week, our students headed to Exmouth town centre to offer fingerspelling and BSL lessons to shoppers and passersby.

Our vision is to put Exmouth on the map as Britain’s first Deaf Friendly town, and our students are the perfect people to spread this message! They spent part of the afternoon talking to local people in town, with the help of Communication Support Workers, and teaching basic signs such as ‘My name is’ and ‘Nice to meet you’, as well as how to fingerspell names and places using the BSL alphabet.

Johnny Rutherford from BBC Spotlight came along to film the students, and to interview our Fundraising Engagement Officer Dave about the New Academy Appeal. Click here to watch the full Spotlight piece!