Members, volunteers, staff and you for a

January 2019 successful 2018. Merry Christmas and

Happy New Year from CDA.
Chairperson’s Update
Dear All,
Happy New Year. I hope that 2019 is a year
full of new experiences and fun and
friendship.
Last Sunday I really enjoyed the CDA Carol
Service in All Saints in Huntingdon. It was
lovely to sign Carols together and Jan
Smith had organised a lovely service. Lots
of people were brave enough to take part
CDA Life
CDA life have recently welcomed 2 new
and I managed the computer and slides
members of staff and 2 current members
with only one or two mistakes.
of staff are now the new Team Leaders,
I am looking forward to the staff Christmas
starting in January.
meal this week and I have had the difficult
job of reading all the praise our staff has
A very warm welcome to Indre
been given over the year to pick out the
Simulynaite and Shabnum Jackson. Lovely
one I thought really showed the spirit of
to have you on board!
CDA. It was a really difficult job as so
many people had been given praise for
making our clients lives better and solving
problems and offering to help in so many
ways. It really made me proud to be part
of the trustee board.
We continue to develop and grow with
new team members and new projects all
the time so I am really looking forward to Congratulations to Sally Platt and Kerry
2019. Miller they are the new Team Leaders for
Best wishes CDA Life.
Dr Janie Anderson

CDA wishing you a

Merry Christmas
All of us at CDA want to wish you a Merry
Christmas and a happy and healthy new
year. We hope you could relax and enjoy
the company of family or friends or if you
were working or volunteering we hope it
went smoothly. Thanks to our Trustees,
If you would like more information please
contact us: life@cambsdeaf.org or phone
01223 246237 and leave a message and a
member of the team will get back to you
as soon as possible.

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 - Tuesdays at our CDA Office,
8 Romsey Terrace, Cambridge, CB1 3NH
12.00pm - 4.00pm

- Wednesday every 2 weeks at

Peterborough Drop-In,
City College Peterborough, Brook Street,
Peterborough, PE1 1TU
12.30pm - 2.30pm
OSAS & Opening times
Open Support & Advocacy Service covers
Peterborough, Cambridge, Huntington and
March. Come along to get advocacy,
support and information. You do not need
to make an appointment. Our trained staff
support deaf people to access information
and can seek advice on your behalf from a
range of specialised providers, including - Thursdays at our Huntington Office,
legal information. Saxongate, Bradbury Place, Huntington,
Issues they support with include: PE29 3RR
Benefits, bills, correspondence, applying 12.00pm - 4.00pm
for jobs, housing issues, support to refer
for equipment, health issues, accessing
services, financial issues, sign posting,
emotional support and more.

OSAS Opening Times:

- Mondays at our Peterborough Office,
Total Voice, 27 London Road, - 2nd Thursday of the month (New address
Peterborough PE2 8AN will be shared once confirmed)
10.00am - 4.00pm 12.00pm - 4.00pm

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Befriending
CDA Befriending is rapidly growing. We are
still advertising and recruiting new
volunteers.
We support deaf people living in
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who
live in rural areas and have little contact
with other people. Our lovely volunteers
work to…
- improve access to services.
- attend social events.
- improve post CI experiences.
- reduce social isolation.
- encourage friendships.
- develop communication skills.
If you or someone you know would like a
befriender to access social activities,
receive support or build independence.
Please make a referral and we will contact
you.
Volunteering for Cambridge
On Saturday 20th October, Tara and Lynn
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(One of our volunteer Befrienders)
represented CDA Befriending, we were at
the stall all day and met lots of people
who were very interested in becoming a
befriender with CDA. It was a very
successful day and thank you Lynn for
coming along to support us.
CDA News
CDA Marathon places
The 2019 Cambridge Half Marathon (March
3rd 2019) has sold out but luckily CDA still
has 16 places. It's a great chance to run the
beautiful Cambridge streets, get cheered
on by the thousands of supporters, all
whilst earning crucial funds for CDA. We
are asking for a non-refundable deposit of
£60 and that you raise a minimum of £300
(excluding Gift Aid). You will get a free
CDA running t-shirt, help with fundraising,
and if you manage to raise £1,000 you will
receive a place on one of our BSL level 1
courses (worth £360). Follow the link and
register today!
Linda Fincham
It is with great sadness that we report the
death of our friend Linda Fincham. Linda
passed away peacefully in hospital.
Linda was an important part of the Deaf
Community in Cambridge and a long-time
member of CDA. She had been attending
the deaf centre in Cambridge since she
was a child.
Linda was also the first deaf person to
become a trustee of CDA.
Our thoughts are with all of Linda's friends
and family at this most difficult time and
also with those from CDA who supported
Linda until the end.
Linda’s funeral was on Tuesday 11th
December at 11.15am at Cambridge
Crematorium West Chapel. This service
was signed with a voiceover.
Rest in peace, Linda.
Rwanda visit
Cambridge and Ely Drop-Ins had Elie and
Louis from Rwanda, the school is called:
Nyabihu Demonstration School For Deaf.
They were in England for 3 weeks and we
were their first visits. The people who
attended learnt a bit of Rwanda sign
language, life for deaf children in Rwanda
and learnt about Rwanda Deaf school. Elie
and Louis will share their experiences,
stories, British Sign Language and culture
with the deaf children and teachers in
Rwanda. Thank you for coming to visit us!
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Hate Crime Awareness Week event at
Cambs Police HQ
Saturday 20th October 2018 Christopher
and Tracey Cellend, Police Liaison Leads,
they attended to the Hate Crime
Awareness Week event at Cambs Police
HQ. Do you think the police provide an
equal service for deaf people? Let us
know.
Huntington Deaf and Hearing Club
Huntingdon deaf and hearing club moving
from barley mow to Cromwells, 137 High
Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3NF.
CDA Staff, Volunteers and Trustees
Christmas Meal
We gathered at Mattoni’s restaurant in
Peterborough. We enjoyed a beautiful
Italian food, everyone enjoyed themselves
seeing old and new faces.
An award ceremony was presented by
Andy Palmer and Janie Anderson.
Here’s the 2018 award winners:
Chairperson’s Award for best single Kudos
received
Sally Platt
CDA Life Most Kudos
Kerry Miller
CDA Support and Advocacy Most Kudos
Rachael Dance
CDA Sign Language Academy Most Kudos
Jamie Billam
CDA Employee of the year 2018
Ruth Godden
Employee of the Year Top 3
Ruth 22 Kudos
Rachael 21 Kudos
Ky 20 Kudos
Congratulations to the award winners all
for fantastic work and special well done to
Ruth for winning the annual award.
Finally thank you to Ky for all her hard
work in organising the meal. Ky also
finished third in employee of the year with
20 Kudos in 2018 so a special mention for
that amazing achievement too.
We all wish you a very Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year.
Events Round Up
BSL Gathering
BSL Gathering opening up on Saturday 19th
January 2019 at 10.30am – 2.30pm.
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Peterborough Deaf Drop In - Craft Day
Drop In group took to learning some old
crafts, Knitting/Crochet. Well on the way
to making scarves, no flying needles and
no injuries saw everyone enjoy the
afternoon and come away in stitches.
Peterborough Deaf Drop In - Games
Much fun had by all at Deaf Drop In while
playing Chinese Whispers (aka the Gossip
Game). Take a simple phrase and pass it
secretively from person to person and see
what the end result is. Purple monkey
dishwasher. Drop In group enjoyed some
leisure time playing games like ‘A-Z’ and
‘Animals’.
Peterborough Deaf Drop In - Tai Chi
From ancient Chinese culture to modern
times, Tai Chi is well known throughout
the world for its calming meditation and
ability to help people focus. China’s
influence came to Peterborough where the
Drop In group learnt and practiced
techniques. No Ninjas, yet.
Huntingdon Deaf Drop In
Huntingdon Drop In celebrated Christmas
and a Birthday on the 6th December with a
meal at Cromwells Bar & Café.
 Ely Deaf Drop In
Isobel, Elie and Louis visited bringing
Rwanda African culture (see map for
Rwanda location). Many questions and
answers saw an eager group keen to learn
more.
Upcoming event will be on 25th March - a
presentation by Sign Live to enlighten the
Ely community and the service offered by
Sign Live and how to access it.
Cambridge Deaf News - Other
It is with great sadness we have to
We also enjoyed our Christmas dinner on
announce the closure of Cambridgeshire
the 10th December at the High Flyer Pub.
Deaf Coffee Morning, dwindling numbers
The food was delicious.
mean that it is not a viable to continue.
We will review this again in 3 months. BUT,
we can announce the addition of an extra
date to Cambridgeshire’s Deaf Drop In
meaning it is now open twice a month.
Yay!

50+
The next over 50’s event will be at the:
When: Friday 18th January. Cambridge Deaf Drop In
Where: Light Box, Sadly, Linda passed last year and Drop In
31 Bridge Street, came together to remember her, sharing
Peterborough, stories and pictures from her life.
PE1 1HA.
Time: 10am - 12pm.

Contact: ky@cambsdeaf.org or 07557 258

230.
Elie from Rwanda (Africa), visited us and
Events will be organised for the 3rd Friday
talked about the lives of Deaf children in
every month, the events will be at
Rwanda. About the challenges they face
different locations every month, please
and how they rise to the occasion to
check CDA website for event details:
overcome the difficulties and barriers in
cambsdeaf.org/community/over-50s/
their way.
Cambridge Deaf Drop In will be setting up
a craft day on 3rd Tuesday every month.

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Wisbech Deaf Drop In - Christmas Meal
On November 29th, Carvery supervisor Mr
Palmer ensured there was plenty for
everyone but no one was sure where the
Chef disappeared to. A well run raffle and
a big thank you to the staff at the Rose
and Crown made for a November
Christmas meal enjoyed by all. The
Wisbech group will continue to meet at
the Rose and Crown throughout 2019 on
the 4th Thursday of the month.
Fenland Christmas Dinner
Fenland Drop In enjoyed their Christmas
Buffet on the 13th December in March.
They played bingo, 1st winner - Van Van, 2nd
winner – Billy and 3rd Winner – Catherine.
Godfrey presented the prizes to them.
CDA Membership
CDA Membership has had a great start, we
now have over 70 active members!
A strong membership base is important as
we can campaign together for better
rights, better accessibility and services for
local deaf people. Our regular member
feedback events will make sure deaf
people’s views are taken into account and
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CDA focuses its efforts on the issues that
matter to the deaf community. The annual
cost of CDA Membership is £10. Annual
members only social events may include a
reasonable charge for tickets to cover
costs. You can join at any of our drop in
events or online
https://cambsdeaf.org/about/membersh
ip
Cambs Deaf Church
Linda
We were very sad to hear of the death of
Linda Fincham in November. Linda was a
member of Deaf church and committed
Christian. She had a strong faith in God.
We are grateful for Linda’s contribution to
Deaf church and for the love and
encouragement she shared over the years.
We know she is now safe with her Father
God in Heaven.
Jesus said: ‘Do not be worried or afraid,
trust in God, trust also in me. There are
many rooms in my Father’s house, I am
going to prepare a place for you’ John 14:
1-2.
Christmas Service
About 50 people came to our Carol
Service, and we enjoyed the celebration of
the true meaning of Christmas, God with
us, with signed carols, Christmas Bible
story and an interesting Live Advent
Calendar introduced by Penny Beschizza
from London. See pictures below.
Deaf Café Church Since September, we have enrolled 49
Sunday 17th February and 14th April. students onto their Level 1 and Level 2
Opens 2.30pm for drinks, starts 3pm. courses in Cambridge and Huntingdon. The
demand for BSL courses is steady and the
All Saints Church, Market Square,
team has had to grow to meet demand!
Huntingdon. The SLA team has welcomed 3 new
A relaxed time to discuss issues of life and members of staff, Tara Forkin (teaches L1 in
faith with signed Bible story, signed songs Hunts), Adam Linsdell (teaches L1 in
and prayers. Buffet after. Everyone Cambridge & BSL@Home) and Fatima Bilal
welcome. (teaches in Peterborough & BSL@Home).
For more info about events or
INTERPRETED CHURCH SERVICES
or if you’d like a chat and prayer, please
contact Jan :
Cambs Deaf Church Facebook page
Text 07593 633 774
Email: cambsdeafchurch@gmail.com
Sadly, we are saying a fond farewell to
Jamie Billam as he begins 2019 a retired
Huntington Deaf Pub man, with more time to play golf! Many of
Meet you will remember Jamie as CDA
Community Manger and he encouraged
Huntington Deaf Pub Meet is now moving me into the BSL teaching field. Jamie, we
to Cromwells Pub, 137 High St, Huntingdon know that we will still see you around, but
PE29 3NF. we wish you all the best for your
Next upcoming events: retirement!
5th February 6th August
5th March 3rd September
9th April 8th October
7th May 5th November
4th June 3rd December –
9th July Christmas Meal

Sign Language Sarah Evagora, SLA Service Manager

Academy (SLA) Fundraising

The past term (September-December) has
been a busy one! Our BSL@Home project,
to teach BSL to deaf people and their
families in their own homes, has begun and
is currently being delivered to two
separate clients.
2018 has a great year for fundraising.
We have gained funds for a volunteer
project, allowing us to reach more people
than ever. We have also received grants to
make improvements to our building in
Cambridge (Hopehall), an important asset

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for the Deaf Community. We also gained
funds to start teaching BSL to people in
their own homes to aid in communication.
Another great project that we’ve been
able to run thanks to the generous gifts
that we received were the ‘wellness
workshops’ we put on in collaboration
with CPSL Mind, a great project that deals
with well-being.
We have also gained core costs (crucial for
the running of CDA) from trusts and from
events such as the Cambridge Half
Marathon. We hope to continue and grow
this and are currently looking for runners
for the 2019 Cambridge Half Marathon
(March 3rd).
We look forward to another successful
year of fundraising in 2019 so we can
continue our work and start new and
exciting projects.
Rory Munro, Fundraiser
Website
Tuesday 13th November CDA’s new website
went LIVE!
We are very proud of this new website,
the new CDA logo and branding colours
look great.
CDA would like to thank the guys at
Riselabs for creating the website and Kiss
Communications for doing our rebranding
for free.
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Posh Deaf
The Posh make it through to the Quarter
Finals of the English Deaf Cup with a 6-0
away win over Birmingham Reserves. Lee
McCann got a hat trick, Ivan Ivanov scored
2 and David Adams gets one.
Massive congratulations to Rhyan Evans,
our talented young midfielder, who has
been selected for the England Squad in the
European Deaf Futsal Championship in
Finland next week! We will all be rooting
for you! Another posh Youngster Will
Palmer is on standby to fly to the
tournament too.
Deaf Sports News
NCS Programme
Thanks to students on the NCS
programme for holding this week’s charity
football match and other activity to raise
over £300 for CDA which will be used to
buy alerting equipment for deaf people on
low incomes.
Raptors on ITV news
Did you see the Peterborough Raptors
Deaf Basketball team on the ITV Anglia
news on 10 October? If you missed it,
don't worry because it is on the CDA
website and Facebook with subtitles.
Thanks to Sense for all their support in
getting the Raptors off the ground!
 Forthcoming programme for the New
Year:

January 12th New Year Buffet

February 9 th Bingo
March 9 th TBC
April 13 th TBC
May 11 th AGM
Please see on Facebook (Peterborough
Peterborough Deaf Deaf Club)
Chairperson - Charlene Spires
Club (PDC) Secretary - Jo Jo Henderson
PDC is a Deaf led organisation & we are Treasurer - Jamie Billam
doing our very best to keep this club going Committee - Marco Pinto, Qadeer Hussein,
- as you may know of other deaf clubs are Michelle Genevieve Larter & Mujad Malik
having to closed down in UK.

October March & District Deaf

We enjoyed the new annual ‘Debbie
Powell’ Quiz and over 35 people took part.
We decided to play in pairs and it was
great fun for all of us. Massive thanks to Jo
Jo for organising this Quiz. We have a
trophy that we will put the winners names
on and it will be used annually.
November
We played a game of ‘Yes/No’ and that
was good fun.
Club
March Deaf Club meet up on the 1st Friday
of every month, 7pm, 54 St Peters Church
Hall, High Street, March, PE15 9JR.
All are very welcome
We all wish you a very happy and healthy
Happy New Year 2019.
Sue Billam

December
Freedom Programme
Freedom Programme, domestic abuse
40 people went to Handmade Burger for a
awareness, in partnership with Women’s
Christmas meal. Many thanks to Charlene
Aid. We now have two members of staff
for organising this as she did all the work.
and one volunteer trained in delivering
We hope everyone enjoyed it.
this course.
For more information please contact: Ruth
on 07902 28166

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Interpreter Booking 5 ways to Wellbeing
System
Have you got appointment letter hospital?
Want make sure BSL Interpreter booked?

Email:
HINCHINGBROOKE:
hch-tr.Appointments@nhs.net
ADDENBROOKES:
accessibility@addenbrookes.nhs.uk

Write:
Your NAME
Your ADDRESS
Your DATE OF BIRTH
Your HOSPITAL NUMBER DATE, TIME,
PLACE of appointment
ASK “Please can you book British Sign
Language Interpreter for me?”

They will reply tell you they booked for

you.

Equipment
Do you need deaf alerting equipment or is
your equipment broken?
Contact Us
Cambridgeshire email: Email: ruth.godden@cambsdeaf.org
Sensory.GeneralDuty@cambridgeshire.gov. Make a referral:
uk cambsdeaf.org/make-areferral/
Text: 07717 613735
Peterborough email:
For useful contacts see our website:
adultsocialcare@peterborough.gcsx.gov.uk www.cambsdeaf.org
Text: 07917 133170
WRITE:
- Your name
- Address
- Date of birth
- Your email or text number
- What is wrong with equipment, or need
which equipment?
- Ask for BSL Interpreter if you want one

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