A new exciting place for young D/deaf, Hard of Hearing and children of Deaf parents in Derby and Derbyshire.

There have been no dedicated youth programmes or support systems for D/deaf young people for the last five years following the closure of previous services. This has led to isolation, limited opportunities and a lack of social integration for many young D/deaf people.

Action Deafness (AD), QUAD Derby and Royal School for the Deaf Derby (RSDD) have come together to establish a new D-Youth Hub which will provide a platform for young D/deaf people to connect, learn and thrive.

A three-month funded pilot project will start in April 2024 and sessions will be held at the QUAD (Derby) on Monday evenings every two weeks.

The Hub will be open to young people who are D/deaf, Hard of Hearing or children of Deaf adults (CODAs) between the ages of 12 and 18 years.

A weekly funded D-Youth Hub is planned to start in October 2024.

Who are the Partners?

Royal School for the Deaf Derby is unique provider of day and residential placements for deaf children and young people from a national catchment area.

Paul Burrows, Head Teacher of RSDD, commented: “Both deaf children – and hearing children who have deaf parents – can be very isolated in their own communities and so it is vital that the good work we do in school is continued in their free time. We are passionate about enabling every child to build confidence and resilience and the current services available to young people in the city have limited accessibility for them. I am delighted that QUAD and Action Deafness have been able to support with this much-needed project which will be extremely popular with our children.”

QUAD is Derby’s Cultural Hub providing contemporary art exhibitions, film, cinema, integrated digital media work and a range of educational and creative activities that are inspirational, innovative and inclusive.

Kathy Wilson (Marketing and Business Development Officer) from QUAD said “We are excited to welcome the young people to our state-of-the-art building to learn life skills, share experiences with peers as well.”

Craig Crowley, CEO of Action Deafness said “Absolutely fantastic that Quad Derby and RSDD are committed to this brilliant and much-needed project. The D-Youth Hub will be a safe, communicative and inclusive space for deaf youth to socialise, develop essential life skills and learn from brilliant deaf role-models.”

Action Deafness is Deaf-led charity providing care, hubs, interpreting and community services throughout the UK.

For more info please email  [email protected]