The #WhereIsTheInterpreter campaign started at the peak of the Pandemic in response to the Government not providing British Sign Language interpreting for its public broadcasts.
Lynn Stewart-Taylor uploaded a video on Twitter, concerned about the Covid- 19 news on BBC1, there was no BSL/English Interpreter for deaf members. She used the hashtag #WhereIsTheInterpreter.
The campaign was formally established by Lynn on a Facebook page and there was a lot of interest, which helped the campaign to gain momentum quickly, harnessing the support of the deaf and hearing public.
Here is what a survey found about deaf peoples access to information during the Pandemic:
64% of people we surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that “Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, I have felt worried about my personal health, safety & well-being because of lack of official govt information about COVID-19 in a format that’s accessible to me.”
The campaign started by trying to engage directly with Government to advocate the importance of making these public broadcasts accessible.
This unfortunately did not have the necessary impact, so the campaign pursued legal action.
To fund the legal campaign, Lynn worked with Mark Hodgson to walk 200 miles from Cardiff to London.
Mark, had previously walked from John O’Groats to Lands’ End with another deaf man, to raise money for deaf focused Mental Health charities.
They were aptly named Two deaf foot, and walked in total of 1,200 miles, raising over £62,663. It took 8 weeks and they arrived at Land’s End on 4 August 2019.
To find out more:
https://www.facebook.com/2DeafFoot/
Lynn and Mark set out from Cardiff on the planned 200-mile journey to London.
Victoria and her two children joined Lynn and Mark on the Thatcham to Midgham part of the route.
Lynn and Mark made it to London!
The £20,000 target was reached in order to pursue the legal battle.
The judge agreed that the Government had discriminated against Kate Rowley, as there were two briefings that did not have BSL Interpretation.
This outcome gained huge amounts of media coverage.
On 1 September 2017, three Deaf mothers took their daughters out for a birthday treat to see Little Mix. They were only able to follow part of the event, as a BSL Interpreter was only provided for the main act (only after issuing an application for an injunction in the County Court) and not the cover acts.
The Little Mix events promoter refused to accept that British Sign Language (BSL) Interpreters were reasonably required, and when challenged with legal action threatened the families with costs liabilities of over £100,000.00.
On September 2021, Judge Avent in the Central London County Court handed down a Judgement, this criticised the behaviour of the LHG Live (the company changed its name to Live in the UK and is owned by Liz Hobbs) and found them guilty of unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act.
The Judgment makes it clear that service providers are required to provide Sign Language Interpreters for Deaf service users.
This judgement adds further weight to the campaign.
COP 26, Day 11 – finally a BSL Interpreter was provided for COP, but the positioning blocked the Interpreter, which made it difficult for deaf people to access.
This day was a 1-day application hearing at the Circuit Judge at Central London County Court.
276 deaf BSL users have brought discrimination cases against the Cabinet Office for not providing any BSL Interpreters for the first 2 weeks of the Covid pandemic.
Chris Fry was legally representing the 276 Claimants, with Yvette Genn a Barrister from Cloisters Chambers.
Whatever happens in this case, there are two more waves of cases to follow on including no BSL for COP-26 and not enough BSL on Government Broadcasts.
#WhereIsTheInterpreter have had first court hearing at Royal Court of Justice, Strand in London.
The hearing was about the claim for reasonable adjustments and compensation against the Cabinet Office.
Due to a slight error/delay of payment from the Fry & Fry Law, the court decided to drop off the whole case.
It created frustration across the deaf community, but the case won’t be given up.
A compensation claim brought forward by Deaf campaigner and #WhereIsTheInterpreter founder Lynn Stewart-Taylor and 275 other Deaf individuals has been struck out of court and dismissed.
Please click here to see the BSL video.
These two films follow the journey of the #WhereIsTheInterpreter campaign:
On 5 February, the government launched the Disability Action Plan, detailing the immediate steps the government will undertake in 2024 to enhance the daily lives of disabled people and established the foundations for longer-term change.
One of the biggest outcomes is the action to have “in-situ {British Sign Language] interpretation for all major press conferences and briefings from Spring 2024 onwards”
This follows on from the #WhereIsTheInterpreter campaign during the Pandemic, in response to the government not providing BSL interpreting for all of its public broadcasts.
This shows the legacy that campaigns can have in the everyday lives of people, with the government finally implementing real change.
Take a look at an article written by terptree’s CEO Victoria, discussing the outcomes from the plan that impact deaf people:
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