Tributes paid to highly respected member of Peterborough deaf community following passing
Tributes have been paid to Ann Ratcliffe, a highly respected member of the Peterborough deaf community.
Ann passed away last month following a short illness.
Ann became the first deaf chairperson of the Cambridgeshire Deaf Association during the 1990s and, in 2024, was inducted into the Association’s Fellowship — an honour recognising individuals who have made a significant contribution to the local deaf community. She was presented with the award by Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes.
Known locally as the “Queen of the Deaf Community”, Ann played a vital role in strengthening community relations, including extensive work with the deaf Asian community in Peterborough.
During her time with the Association, she helped guide it through challenging periods and oversaw the recruitment of the organisation’s first Deaf manager, Jamie Billam, in 1999. Ann also championed greater deaf representation in leadership, supporting the recruitment of several deaf trustees to the board.
Ann began her career in education in 1978 as a specialist teaching assistant for deaf children at Middleton School in Bretton (now Nova Academy). She went on to build a career spanning three decades in deaf education, making an indelible impact on generations of young people. In 1981 she moved into secondary deaf education at Jack Hunt School, where she worked until her retirement. She later continued supporting the community as a respected and popular British Sign Language teacher at Brook Street College.
Outside of her professional life, Ann was a regular member of the congregation at St Botolph’s Church in Longthorpe, Peterborough, and also attended Cambridgeshire’s Deaf Church, where services are delivered in British Sign Language.
Her son, Ian Ratcliffe, said: “It is with very great sadness that we announce the passing of my mum, Ann Ratcliffe, following a short illness. She was a pillar of the deaf community, not just in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire but across the wider region. Mum had a career spanning more than 30 years teaching at Jack Hunt School and college, and she firmly believed that every person deserved the best education, whether they were deaf or hearing. Mum will be greatly missed by both family and friends and will remain a shining light to us all.”
Andrew Palmer, Chief Executive of the Cambridgeshire Deaf Association, said: “Ann was an example to us all of public spirit and devotion to improving the lives of people in the deaf community. She worked tirelessly to help individuals get the best out of life and to bring people together, demonstrated by her leadership of CDA and her work within the deaf Asian community.
She was a keen and knowledgeable follower of politics and was never afraid to speak plainly to those in power about the issues facing the deaf community. She will be sorely missed but remembered as a key figure in the history of both the Deaf Community and the Cambridgeshire Deaf Association. Not only have we lost our beloved matriarch, but many have also lost a lifelong friend.”