Sainsbury’s turned one of its stores into the UK’s first signing supermarket in an effort to support the hard-of-hearing community.
This follows over a hundred colleagues in the store taking part in British Sign Language (BSL) lessons, delivered by local signing school I Can Sign. The lessons were supported by a colleague who is deaf, Sam Book and Rachel Shenton, the Oscar winning screenwriter who famously signed her 2018 acceptance speech.
It is estimated that around 11 million people in the UK live with hearing disability – approximately 35,000 of whom live in Bath. It is hoped that this initiative will help to encourage better communication with those who are hard of hearing by creating a supportive environment for both colleagues and the local community.
“We’re really excited to be launching this Signsbury’s initiative at our store in Bath. We want to be the most inclusive retailer where people love to work and shop and it’s really important to us that we support both customers and colleagues with hearing difficulties to feel as comfortable as possible in our stores wherever we can”. said Tim Fallowfield, Company Secretary & Corporate Services Director.
“We’re really proud of Paul and the team at Bath who thought up this wonderful idea as part of our 150 Days of Community celebrations.”
