City Lit BSL

02/10/2026

Friday 9th October, Locked Out of Grief: Access, Identity and Healing in the Deaf Community
Taking place in BSL with English Voice over and Speech to Text Captions
Book your place: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/locked-out-of-grief-access-identity-and-healing-in-the-deaf-community-tickets-1998745596885

02/10/2026

City Lit Mental Wealth Festival, Wednesday 7th October - Saturday 10th October
For more details please visit https://www.citylit.ac.uk/events/mental-wealth-festival
To arrange support for sessions - please book on to the session and let us know what support you need!

23/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AgkK2xAov/?mibextid=wwXIfr

21/09/2026

Happy International Week for Deaf people from City Lit BSL teachers

17/09/2026

Peter Brown’s BSL tour at Battle for September 26th! Exciting!

Here is the video:
Social media battle Abbey 2026 with subs.mp4

And here is the website link to book tickets:

Join Deaf Guide Peter Brown for a BSL tour of Battle Abbey on Saturday 26 September at 11am.

14/09/2026

Deaf mental health doesn't get talked about enough — that's starting to change.

On 9 October, we're welcoming a panel to City Lit, created in partnership with The Deaf Health Charity SignHealth, to talk honestly about what good Deaf mental healthcare looks like when access is built in from the start.

Joining us:
🎙️ Philippa Wynne — Facilitator and Associate Director of Engagement, The Deaf Health Charity SignHealth
🎨 Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq — Artist, Psychotherapist and Chair, DEWA (Deaf Ethnic Women's Association)
✍️ Richard D France — Deaf mental health campaigner, author, poet, and Deaf Support Coordinator, City Lit
🩺 Dr Sarah Powell — Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist, The Deaf Health Charity SignHealth

📅 9 October | City Lit

Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/locked-out-of-grief-access-identity-and-healing-in-the-deaf-community-tickets-1998745596885

07/09/2026

Yesterday evening, Stephen and I arrived back in London after travelling from Amsterdam, following a wonderful and inspiring few days in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱

We would like to say a huge thank you to the professional association Levende Talen, NGT section (VLLT NGT) for inviting me to be one of four expert presenters at their international symposium on Saturday 5 September.

The symposium brought together at least 50 sign language professionals, teachers, researchers and students working across education, research, healthcare and social care.

The theme was an important and thought-provoking question:

“What is the future of sign language?”

It was a real privilege to share our experiences, perspectives and ideas about the future of sign languages and sign language education alongside three other inspiring presenters from three countries:

🌍 Corina Burggraaf-Maljers, Netherlands – teacher in special education for Deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils
🌍 Marieke Kusters, Belgium – researcher and teacher
🌍 Emma Iliffe, England – BSL teacher
🌍 Alexandre Blox, Belgium – lawyer specialising in the development and rights of European sign languages

I particularly appreciated the 30-minute breaks between presentations, which gave everyone plenty of opportunities to network, exchange ideas and continue conversations. It was also wonderful to see Stephen Iliffe’s Deaf Mosaics photography exhibition and spend time looking through his photographs.

The symposium took place at Berengroep in Bilthoven, a fantastic building owned by a Deaf person and home to Deaf businesses. It was also interesting to learn more about Tolk Connect, which provides a service similar to Sign Video Relay.

The VLLT NGT is, in many ways, comparable to the Association of BSL Education Professionals (ABSLEP) in the UK. I hope this will be the beginning of opportunities for us to exchange experiences, advice, ideas and good practice between our professional communities.

I am incredibly proud of all the presenters, the organising committee, volunteers and international sign language interpreters who made the event such a success.

Many thanks for your warm welcome, wonderful hospitality and for creating such a valuable space for international professional exchange. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be part of it. 🤟🏼🌍

14/08/2026

Video Description: A behind-the-scenes recap of DawnSign’s Across the Ocean: The England Arc, featuring camera setups, crew members filming behind the camera, interviews with Deaf community members and historians, and scenic views throughout London and Edinburgh.

09/07/2026

2026 has so far had numerous celebrations within the British Deaf community including the Deaf Academy's 200th Anniversary celebration of its establishment in 1826, Bolton Deaf Society's 157th celebration and Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children's special 75th celebrations.

On Monday Mark Hopkinson and Peter R. Brown from City Lit, attended Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children's special 75th celebrations assembly with a packed out audience.

Throughout the morning, we saw stories from current and former pupils, current and former staff, parents, families, and school partners, sharing amazing experiences and memories on the school's journey from Old Street, to Swiss Cottage, to Jubilee Waterside, and now their current location at King’s Cross.

We would like to congratulate the school and wish it all the best for the future. There are 2 quotes that seem poignant at this time; one is from a memorial plaque for Joseph Watson, the first Headteacher of Britain's first free school for the deaf which was established at Bermondsey, Surrey in 1792, the plaque states "let us not be weary in well doing" when working with deaf children. The second quote is Watson's own motto written in 1809 - "labor ipse voluptas" (labour itself is pleasure).

Happy 75th Anniversary Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children!

Peter R. Brown

07/07/2026

I was grateful to be invited to appear on BBC See Hear for a Café Conversation in BSL with Deaf TV chef Scott Garthwaite, where we shared our life stories.

A heartfelt thank you to the BBC See Hear team for creating such a welcoming space for Deaf people to share their experiences, and for all the care that went into the filming, editing, and accessible subtitles.

If you’re inspired to continue your BSL journey, I’m pleased to be teaching the Signature-accredited BSL Level 4 course at City Lit. It’s designed for learners who have completed Level 3 and are ready to develop their skills further on the pathway towards Level 6.

Emma Iliffe City Lit BSL Level 4 Teacher on BBC See Hear!

Ideal if you have completed level 3 in BSL and are ready to develop your skills to level 4 standard. This is a new way to progress onto level 6. This is a Level 4 qualification course accredited by Signature. You will work though a practical programme designed and taught by our experienced teacher.

Here the link: https://www.citylit.ac.uk/level-4-certificate-in-bsl

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002yf2g/sign/see-hear-series-45-episode-9-cafe-conversations

Punk Chef welcomes two guests, Emma Iliffe and Chris Laing, for two separate, intimate cafe conversations over their chosen drinks.