Bradford Deaf Community Association
Bradford, UK
Established over 150 years ago and originally called The Institute for the deaf and dumb we still occupy the same building but our name has changed over the years to reflect society's changing attitudes. We support D/deaf and hard of hearing people in accessing information, training and recreational activities We also provide opportunity for interaction between D/deaf and hearing people by supporting the learning of BSL (British Sign Language) either through formal or informal courses . Our listed building is also home to a vibrant mix of ethnicities, faiths and cultures. Our "family" at Hallfield Road includes BIASAN supporting refugees and asylum seekers, an NHS mental health wellbeing support group,, two groups supporting homeless and vulnerable people with a weekly hot meal, a craft group for hard of hearing/hearing and profoundly D/deaf people, 2 church groups and a weekly luncheon club for profoundly D/deaf elderly people and in early 2025 we look forward to welcoming a new group who will be supporting people with ADHD into our ever growing "family" In addition to the 500 + people who already use our facilities every week we also support other local community organisations and groups with any surplus food, clothes or furniture we may have sourced so our outreach within our community does extend much farther than just our immediate community centre Our building is based in a very deprived area of the city and there is a continually transient population as people arrive in the city and are then relocated elsewhere Any food we get is quickly distributed to those who need it but we also have a community pantry set up for emergencies as many people who are now needing help have never been in this situation before and often do not know where to go for help. We have a community fridge and several freezers which are in situ to enable us to take advantage of any offers of surplus frozen food. We also subscribe to a weekly ambient and fortnightly frozen food delivery from Fareshare. These deliveries always include items such as dairy , fruit and vegetables and not only subsidises the food we have donated by local supermarkets via Neighbourly but enables us to offer a variety of healthy food choices to people The people we support have a wide variety of traditional staple diets - for some families chapatti flour and oil are what is needed, for others pasta or rice enables them to make large nourishing meals they know their families will eat. From experience we know people prefer to choose foods they know they will use rather than be given a prefilled bag. This means less waste and more meals from the donations we receive A big THANK YOU to all who continue to support us in the work we do
What we've received