current news

Easter Party 2008

Easter Party was organised by the Family Centre and Bristol Young Deaf People's Services and attended by 35 children at Centre for Deaf People, Bristol. Mums and Dads brought party food and drinks for the Easter buffet and they stayed and chatted with the others. 3 Deaf mums made tea & coffee for other parents and provided squash for the children. 5 young Deaf people aged from 14 years to 17 years led the games enjoyed by the children.

Have a look at some photos of the day.

10 Pin Bowling Event

21 families with deaf children (80 people altogether) went to 10 pin bowling at Hollywood Bowl in Bristol on 10th February 2008. An excellent afternoon enjoyed by all. Everyone had great fun.

Have a look at some photos of the day.

BSL Poetry & Music fun workshops

22 D/deaf children and their brothers & sisters enjoyed BSL Poetry & Music fun workshops led by Richard Carter and Danny Lane. The children created imaginative signing story in BSL Poetry workshop and made a lot of very loud noises especially drumming during music workshop! They showed a short musical performance about the weather.

8 mums, 4 dads and 3 grandmas a talk by Dr Gary Morgan on research into communication in child’s early life and how children learn about mentalising and also some research deaf children’s development of these skills. Gary is a researcher/lecturer at a university in London and also a co-director of Deafness, Cognition and Language (DCAL). A discussion followed by Gary's talk was led by a couple of parents on other parents expriences with their deaf children.

Here is a comment from Tina Walburton who is a mum of 11 years old Jack. Jack is Deaf with additional needs:

"I would like to say I found the talk very interesting and it was good to hear other parents views as well and a chance to meet and talk with other parents and Jack enjoyed the music workshop he had great fun and it was a chance for him to meet and play with other deaf children."

Have a look at some photos of the day.

FAMILY WEEKEND: 8th to 10th JUNE 2007

This year’s Family Weekend at YHA River Dart, near Brixham in Devon, was a great success. To read a full report from Monica, find out what some of the parents thought and see a selection of photos from the weekend then visit this special page.

SKI & SNOWBOARD SUCCESS

A second skiing, snowboarding and toboganning day took place on Saturday 10th February at the High Action Centre, Churchill.  Lots of children of all ages took part, and a great time was had by all!  Thank you very much to Ecclesiastical Insurance for their support of this event, and also to Donna West and Gemma Smith for volunteering to help with Communication Support on the day.

FAMILY ACTIVITY DAY – A GREAT SUCCESS - SUNDAY 1ST APRIL 2007

On 1st April 2007 the people - 37 children and 14 adults enjoyed doing the activities - climbing & abseiling, archery and assault course. The assault course was the most popular activity as the children loved getting wet and muddy! Many thanks to 6 volunteers, interpreters and communication support worker for making it a great success. The sunny weather helped too! The activities were funded by Ecclesiastical Insurance. Click here to see the photos of the day...

Gorge-ous Family Fun Day Success

Family Centre worked closely with the Avon Wildlife Project and Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project to make their recent Family Fun Day accessible to families with deaf children.  Two communication support workers and volunteers accompanied groups on their tour of the Downs, in Bristol where they met costumed characters including a hedgehog, bees, shepherds, caterpillars and different types of birds.  They explained about the importance of their animal in the ecosystem of the Downs and enabled the children to answer questions along the trail which resulted in a certificate at the end of the route.  Craft activities such as badge making and making masks were available, as well as storytelling about different species of birds deciding who should be ‘King of the Birds’.  Approximately 25 people attended which was great and positive feedback from all parties means that Family Centre may be working with the Wildlife organisations to make more of their future events accessible to families with deaf children

June Fabulous Family Weekend

Forty nine children and adults braved the scorching hot weather in their travels to Llangorse, Wales for Family Centre’s annual weekend away in early June.  The children were kept busy with on-site activities and an enormous field adjacent to our massive farmhouse to play games and run around in.  Adults had the luxury of sitting in the sun sipping drinks, knowing their children were happily playing with old and new friends.

“A big thank you to Family Centre who organized what was a lovely weekend in Wales. The weather was fantastic and a good time was had by all. On the Friday we arrived at about half five, got settled into the accommodation, then had supper and a few drinks. Saturday was horse riding and swimming day, and in the evening we all had a BBQ and played games in the field. Sunday morning was taken up by indoor rock climbing and abseiling where all the kids showed great courage and bravery. In the afternoon we were supposed to climb up one of the  hills, but it was so hot we decided to go to the boating lake instead.  Can’t wait till next year to do it all again!, Cheers”   Gavin McCreadie (dad).