CEO Chat #20

Last week we saw the last of a run of Bank Holiday Mondays, where many people basked in the glorious sunshine whilst some of our team were working out in the community with private clients.  Also, a few staff attended a Save Windermere event, where the organisers were raising awareness of the pollution and discharge of sewage effluent into Windermere that causes the harmful blue-green algae to develop. 

The organisers booked a CDA BSL interpreter to increase accessibility and inclusion at the event. They also had some other guests, who are better known than CDA, to add their voices to the campaign; comedians Lee Mack, Paul Whitehouse and Steve Coogan, Freya a local schoolgirl who voiced her concerns for the future, the campaign founder Matt Staniek, the local band Lowes played and various councillors and a representative of Lord Clark of Windermere took turns to share their thoughts, upset and disappointment about the situation. 

There were TV crews and reporters from Channel 4, BBC, ITV, local and national press too. It was a quiet but hugely impactful event that really raised awareness.  Karen, who was interpreting the event, was seen by some of our followers on the TV evening news.

CDA is not a political organisation but, we do want to ensure that the deaf community who live, work or visit Cumbria can be informed about key issues affecting the quality of our landscape, heritage and livelihoods.  So, we are extremely grateful that www.savewindermere.com invited us to provide a BSL interpreter for their event.