The choir formerly known as Woolston Schools Signing Choir was set up in 2009 by Helen Andrews, who was then a teaching assistant at Woolston Community Primary School and is still going strong today in 2022, celebrating its 13th birthday, but as BSL For You Signing Choir where Helen is now a BSL/ English Interpreter. Read on to find out more.
But first, let’s first rewind a further 2 years to 2007 to see how the choir was born.
In autumn 2007 I was working part-time in reception class supporting a child when one day mid-term new pupil arrived. The child was profoundly deaf; no speech, no signs, no communication whatsoever. This child and this day changed Helen’s life.
The great thing about Early Years Education is that learning is primarily through play, visual and tactile learning. As I only worked part-time, I was able to volunteer my remaining school day time. My children attended the same school and it fitted in perfectly. I devoured every piece of information possible (internet back then wasn’t as good as now but there were some resources out there -we were still in the days of books, videos, CDs and DVD’s!)
Initially the school was told that the placement would only be temporary and the child would transfer to a deaf school. That didn’t happen. The following March it was decided the pupil was staying at the local school and when the job came up, I applied and was successful! I continued in this role for 9 wonderful years.
I phoned the local college but was told the BSL classes was 4 weeks in to the new course and I had to wait until next year, so I worked closely and regularly with the Teacher of the Deaf who taught me functional BSL signs and pretty much the level one course. The following year I started the level one accredited BSL course and continued my learning journey for many years and I’m now finally a qualified sign language interpreter.
The first choir session was held in the Year 2 classroom (where I worked) after school on 30th November 2009
Children, parents and staff from the three local primary schools came together. Little did I know when I first started how well we would progress.
We were involved in community performances, governor’s conferences, assemblies. It was so much fun.
We secured some funding to enable us to buy choir unforms so no cost to the members and was accessible to all.
The whole school embraced learning to sign. We had one deaf pupil and almost four hundred hearing pupils, not the ideal situation but unfortunately controlling the types of school provision in the UK was out of my expertise. We did our best and our best was brilliant!
Christmas plays were inclusive. Performances were signed by the pupil and I.
In 2010 we linked with a deaf school in Bolton. They visited us and the choir visited them. https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/5028232.signing-songs-for-the-deaf/
In 2011 a choir member’s mum helped the choir secure funding through her employment https://northwestcommunityfund.co.uk/offering-a-sign/
Sign2sing was launched this year, the choir and the whole school took part, an event aimed to break the world record of the most people performing sign language simultaneously in different locations.
The choir was taking off. The members were growing up and moving on to high school. Some of the high schools were out of the village, so the choir was evolving and always aiming to be fully inclusive I changed the choir’s name From Woolston Schools Signing Choir to Woolston Signing Choir as some members were now out of the area.
2014 - Another Sign2Sing project to start the year. Part of the theme that year was for everyone to wear a scarf, an inexpensive way to show their support. https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/10999099.woolston-signing-choir-go-for-world-record/
I moved up to high school with my pupil and there formed another branch of the choir. A few weeks in the whole of Year 7 had learned and signed a song for their assembly.
2015 – I (my choir) was nominated for the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. Although not winning the award I was invited to the Queens Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace for my commitment to the choir and the community. That was a great honour (even though my husband at the time came. He wouldn’t allow anyone else to go.) I wanted my girls to be part of it as they had been on the journey since its conception.
2016 was a bittersweet year. Starting off with supporting the Sign2Sing project for deaf health charity Sign Health https://greatreporter.com/2016/01/20/local-signing-choir-sign-and-sing-help-deaf-children/
In February 2016 my daughters and I went to the theatre to watch Calendar Girls – a signed musical theatre performance based on a true-life story. I was so inspired that even before the end of the show I’d started to put together a fundraising event called Girls Who Dare. A summer event with fifty ladies dressed in the style of the real Calendar Girls, black dress, pearl and a sunflower, performing inspiring female songs and a summer fayre alongside it. The funds went to NDCS and Bloodwise. Two of the original Calendar Girls were special guests at the event. https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/leisure/interviews/14601313.original-calendar-girls-to-come-to-warrington-after-inspiring-signing-choirs-special-performance/
My eldest daughter was off to college now and had been inspired by sign language that she created a project as part of her course based on deaf and blind communication. This wasn’t the first time she had been inspired. She had given her English Public Speaking exam on Deaf Awareness. We have had so many people involved in the choir over the years for various reasons, some on placement, some for the experience, some to learn to sign, some to raise their confidence, some because they want to communicate with their friend. I’m proud that we have inspired so many people. Some have gone on to complete accredited courses, even up to level 6.
During this year my personal life took a turn for the worse. A failing marriage came to a head. The (now) ex-husband did not like my choir setup and the work I did, culminating in throwing me, my choir equipment, songs sheets out on a cold November night. After all these years of security my job changed at the same time too. The downside to my job being 1:1 support was that it was only as secure as having the children there to support.
2017 came and now divorced, I was still coming to terms with the aftermath. Everyone and everything I knew and had, had gone. A new job in a new area and new deaf pupil to support kept me busy. My youngest daughter had taken part in our deaf club choir event and signed a song. Her song choice and her interpretation won, she won on her own merits and was voted for by the signing community. She is a hearing person but has been brought up with sign language and was friends with our deaf pupil in school and was natural at it.
It was this year that I decided to change the name of my choir; rebrand. One of the reasons I wasn’t awarded the QAVS was because the choir wasn’t demographic enough. The name was confined to that little village in Warrington. So, it was then BSL For You Signing Choir was born.
Everything else stayed the same; same aims and values. No matter where the choir is based the name stays the same; Warrington, Liverpool or Timbuctoo, it can go anywhere that uses British Sign Language. As a bittersweet gift to myself on the day of the Decree Absolute I added a personalised number plate to my car, aptly linked to the choir’s name! That man had systematically destroyed (and still destroying) my life. He has taken everything from me: my (now grown-up) children, family home, family and friends, pretty much broke me – but one thing he couldn’t take was the choir. This choir is my baby. The choir now evolved into two branches; one in Liverpool and one in Great Sankey, Warrington.
I also gained a co leader, David. He was part of the other choir I was a part of and we became friends. We had similar views, both in a choir, both involved in fundraising, both studying BSL and we went on to fundraise for the Nepal project together.
2018 - My personal life still in turmoil. The choir’s current project was a huge one; the task was to fundraise enough money to build a hostel for twenty-nine deaf children at a remote deaf school in Nepal. We had a team who were like-minded, involved in the deaf community could sign, fundraise, interested in this project and together we raised £20,000. You might think that’s not much but for a small choir and a small team it was a mammoth task. Performances, bucket collections quiz nights, a charity dinner, sponsored events. We did it! Every penny we raised ourselves. We raised £20,000 and the Nepalese community matched our funds and a brand-new hostel has since been built. You’d be lucky to get a classroom extension in the UK!
The 2018 Deaf Nepal Expedition Team went to visit the deaf school in Nepal and worked there voluntarily for a week. Immersed in the Deaf community for 11 days. The trip was funded completely out of our own pockets. A difficult time financially for me but I did it. It was also the 25th anniversary of the Nepal project’s charity, my co leader and I were asked to perform signed songs out there for them at their event.
The choir funds that year also bought a printer for a local Deaf Community Office in Nepal and toys and stationery for the school children.
The days before we flew to Nepal was the 2018 Signature Awards. I had been nominated and was a finalist for The Signature Community Support Champion 2018.
2019 was a quieter year, I closed down the Warrington branch and just had the Liverpool branch. We moved into a local church hall for rehearsals. Performances continued through the year in the city centre, at local events, a local National Trust property and for a homeless centre. Our fundraising was for three TVs for three deaf schools in Nepal.
I had now also gained my Trainee Interpreter’s badge so the plan was to build up my clients alongside my school work.
2020 – The Pandemic. Life as the world knew came to a grinding halt. The choir turned to Zoom for their weekly practices. The choir turned to creating video versions as alternatives for our performances. Each of us signed part of the songs and I put it all together, creating signed song videos to thank the NHS and for Children in Need. The power of technology kept us together through difficult times.
2021 – three days into the year and the night before the third lockdown… disaster stuck. Not knowing whether I’d be working the following day (I was working for an education agency at this time) I decided to take the Christmas tree down early. My personal life was still in tatters, still living with the turmoil after the divorce, the house sale still not gone through, little contact from my girls and a lot of unwanted contact from their father. I mustn’t have been paying full attention, my mind not focused on what I was doing… one moment I’m on the step ladder, the next…smack, fell backwards on the wooden floor. My wrist/ arm was busted. So off to A&E to be mended. Covid way of life meant going there alone. My life had now literally and physically hit rock bottom. Broken bones, I couldn’t drive, meaning I couldn’t go out work, what on earth was I going to do? I put a request out to friends on social media if they knew of any work for a one-armed lady. A friend came back to me with an offer to work with her. Someone must have been looking down on me that day, because I haven’t looked back since! We work remotely together through Zoom. The perfect job. I have a home office where I work and run the signing choir each week. My arm healed – badly. The operation to rectify it was cancelled because of the pandemic priorities. I was told will be done when life permits. So,lots of physio. Thank goodness I am left-handed! But still the choir carried on! No way was I giving that up. Nothing stopped us rehearsing. Even if I was predominantly one-handed. The choir had enough knowledge to understand the signs and I had David to co-lead. We managed a couple of in person performances that following Christmas when rules had been relaxed. Life was slowly starting to come back to the new normal.
And so here we are at the end of 2022 – We performed for HM Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Celebrations, creating another two videos to be shared online. Please take a look at them on our website: https://www.bslforyou.co.uk/bsl-for-you-signing-choir.
We still have two of my original choir members with us; mother and daughter. The daughter was only 5 years old when she joined and is now an adult and has recently gone off to university but she still joins us online for rehearsals. Got to love technology when it works!
Our choir members have stayed together throughout the pandemic, we are a great group.
We are now in the midst of Christmas 2022 performances and started the season last weekend at Speke Hall, our local National Trust property. A few more to performances to go, with bucket collections, raising funds ready for our next project. This year we funded a laptop and a RING doorbell system for two deaf people. This made a positive impact on their independence.
November 30th 2022 is the choir’s 13th birthday. We have hit the teenage years!
We’re hoping in the new year to find a new venue and start rehearsing face to face once a month and the other weeks online. Remote rehearsals work well but it’s great to meet up in real life.
If you want to join the choir, or find out more about the choir please contact Helen at bslforyou@gmail.com or text 07903831333 or you can visit the website www.bslforyou.co.uk or our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BSLForYouSigningChoir/