Covid-19 Won’t Stop Friendships, Say Deaf Charity

An elderly deaf man, living in isolation for the majority of the year, has been able to catch up with his friends thanks to an innovative project.

Sallie Fletcher, from Runcorn, who works for DSN, has been instrumental in helping distribute and set up a number of electronic tablets which were bought by the Cheshire-based charity with the help of the Cheshire West Covid-19 Community Fund in the first lockdown.

Alongside dedicated volunteer Mike Ritchie, the Social Care Support Worker has helped over a dozen older people who were shielding through the first lockdown and isolated during the following months to gain a support system using video technology - connecting other British Sign Language users together.

Sallie, whose ‘Papa’ is deaf and a BSL user, luckily had his own iPad but wasn’t able to make contact with lifelong friends he had made at Chester Deaf Club and at school, due to them not having access to technology.

Sallie said: “I had taken Papa’s iPad and downloaded Skype onto it. With the agreement of those (from Chester Deaf Club with new electronic tablets), I added their contact details on to his account and vice versa.

“At 9pm last night, Papa FaceTimed me to say he had been in contact with (his three best friends). He had a good night catching up with them, talking away. He feels better knowing that his lifelong school friend is OK and has explained to him that he needs to stay in and be careful and follow the rules – so all that nagging eventually paid off then! Phew!”

Sallie who has worked for DSN for seven years added: “Following the distribution of the tablets, this now means that Papa has more people to talk to and so do they, in turn this means different stories/gossip and something else to talk about, which is an added bonus, especially during these times, when finding things to talk about is becoming increasingly difficult. There is only so many times you can ask if they’re OK and what have they done today etc.

The funds were granted in May following an application from DSN’s Operations Executive Gill Reeder who saw first hand the impact the isolation of lockdown was having on the older members of the deaf community in Cheshire and sought to make a change.

Sallie said: “That FaceTime call with Papa, was emotional, to see him look so happy. Those tablets haven’t only made a difference to those who received them, but a network of others too! That is priceless and makes applying for those bids worthwhile!”

DSN is working around the clock during the second Lockdown to ensure the most susceptible people in the area are getting the support they need, including distributing activity packs to those with a sensory and memory loss and organising virtual events when possible.

Gill added: “Whilst so much of the work we do is face-to-face because of the way we communicate with clients, we have simply had to think in new ways and different directions because of the pandemic.

“We have lots of plans to make this Christmas more special than ever and we want to thank everyone who has supported us, volunteered and gone out of their way to help keep the deaf community together during the most testing of times.”

If you’d like to fundraise or find out more about how you can help, email dsn@dsnonline.co.uk