Cambridgeshire charity hosts worlds first football phone in for deaf fans

The Cambridgeshire Deaf Association have pulled off what they think is a world first – A football phone–in show for deaf people in the county, with over 600 people watching!
The event was described as a success by the charityThe event was described as a success by the charity
The event was described as a success by the charity

Interactive phone–in shows are popular the world over but up until now deaf people have not been able to participate.

With funding from the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, CDA were able to make this happen by adapting and enhancing their building in Cambridge, which has been in use for deaf people since 1926.

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The online show was presented by Memmos Costi, a former BBC ‘See Hear’ presenter, who has also starred in Casualty and many other TV shows. He was joined by pundit and former Peterborough resident, Joe Dixon, who also plays football for the England deaf team and Farsley Celtic.

The presenters used British Sign Language (BSL) during the broadcast.

Andrew Palmer, Chief Executive of the Cambridgeshire Deaf Association, said; "The BSL football phone in is a real first! Lots of people who can hear will know that all around the country there are many phone-in programmes talking about football and there have been for years - BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s Saturday night phone-in is very popular and 606, on BBC 5 live, gets many listeners, but neither are suitable for deaf people.

"Our show allows deaf people to interact and phone in live with their opinions. The pilot went well, with a few technical hitches but plenty of callers and some great feedback.

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"There is so much content available online for people to watch these days. Also the number of talk radio stations is increasing, giving people huge options of things to listen to. There are also many podcasts too but the vast majority of these things are not accessible to deaf people that use British sign language.

"We’ve been developing our capability to create video for years. And so far this year have already created over 130 videos which have sign language and are captioned.

"CDA has been supported by the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation to create podcasts in British sign language and other videos to support the community during this difficult time.

"We have other ideas for programs, including a podcast series which will feature in-depth interviews with interesting people, a series of talks with professors from Cambridge University and our weekly ‘what’s on’ program, which previews events and the national and local news.

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"The idea is to greatly increase the amount of content in British sign language available online for local deaf people and ensure that we can be there for the deaf community this winter, which is likely to be very isolating for many.”

For more information visit https://cambsdeaf.org/