Two Members of Senedd have visited Colwyn Bay's Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound to see first-hand how The National Lottery funding has helped develop their bespoke services for the sensory loss community.

The Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound  were recently awarded a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund to expand their current bespoke Information, Advice and Assistance service.

They are using their grant of £97,749 to share information with their community in north Wales, to help them with the effects of the cost-of-living crisis as many are missing out on all the support available to them simply because of a lack of access.

The service will also produce accessible media, such as short easy-view clips delivered in BSL with a write up and link to the information in English and Welsh language. These videos will also be available to a much wider audience, such as people with learning disabilities, people with low literacy or people for whom English/Welsh is not their first language.

Thanks to The National Lottery players, The Centre of Sign Sight-Sound were also awarded a grant of £298,235 over three years in 2021. Their National Lottery Community Fund grant was successfully used to work with the sensory loss community throughout North Wales to develop awareness training.

Sarah Thomas, of The Centre of Sign Sight-Sound said:

“Support from the National Lottery has meant that we have been able to work with our Community to ensure they have access to information to make informed decisions during this cost-of-living crisis.  Their support has also enabled us to work towards a more aware society with the development of online resources that enable companies to become more knowledgeable about communicating with people with a sensory loss””

Darren Millar MS said:

"It was a real pleasure to visit the Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound in Colwyn Bay who are doing great work to improve the quality of life and equality of access for Deaf people and people with a sensory loss.

“I am delighted that they have been awarded this grant of £97,749 to enable them to continue supporting Deaf people and people with sensory loss in North Wales. Sensory loss should not limit, preclude or stigmatise people from achieving their full potential and the work of Sign Sight Sound helps ensure that it doesn’t.”

Mark Isherwood MS  said:

“It was a pleasure to re-visit the Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound (COS) in Colwyn Bay, with my colleague Darren Millar MS. In addition to their Information, Advice and Assistance service for people with a sensory loss, we discussed their excellent ‘Abi project’, training teachers and helping children learn sign language in mainstream schools, with ‘Catrin & Abi’ books to be used in North Wales schools as part of the project; their ‘Working Sense’ Employment Project, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund; and their Accessible Health Service.

"I am proud to be Patron to COS (formerly North Wales Deaf Association), which is here to improve the quality of life and equality of access for Deaf people and people with a sensory loss by promoting a world where sensory loss does not limit, preclude or stigmatise people from achieving their full potential.””

John Rose, Wales Director at The National Lottery Community Fund, said:

“We are proud to be the largest funder of community activity in Wales, supporting great project ideas such as The Centre of Sign Sight-Sound. This group identified a fixable problem within their community that could be of immense benefit to those in their local area and stepped up with the help of a National Lottery Community Fund grant.”