Residents urged to join record breaking attempt to 'sign and sing' for SignHealth charity

Children and adults in the city are being asked to register for SignHealth’s sign2sing fundraiser on Wednesday, February 5.

Linda Petrons, Events and Corporate Fundraiser at SignHealth, the national healthcare charity for deaf people, said: "We have estimated that so far more than 100,000 people have signed up for sign2sing but we need another 20,000 in order to break our world record of 116,980 and help raise awareness of British Sign Language (BSL).

"Sign2sing is our annual record breaking attempt for the most people signing and singing a song on the same day. We’re hoping lots of children and adults from St Albans will sign up for the event."

This is the fourth time SignHealth has run the fundraiser in order to encourage the next generation to learn some sign language.

Ms Petrons added: "Deaf people often find it more difficult than hearing people to access healthcare and health information and because of this, deaf men, women and children are more likely to suffer ill health. By ensuring our next generation of healthcare professionals are aware of deafness and BSL, we will help to break down communication barriers and ensure equal access."

As part of the fundraiser participants will learn to sign one of the charity’s songs that have been especially composed for the event.

The songs, 'As One' and 'Get Up and Sign', have been specially written, performed and produced for sign2sing by Tom and Pippa Gearing, Sarah Lindsey and James Hawkins from Bottle Top Music Productions.

Both are available to download from iTunes and cost 99p each. The closing date for registration is Friday, January 24.

People who are unable to take part in the record breaking attempt are invited to join in with the fundraising event during sign2sing week, which takes place from Monday, February 3 until Sunday, February 9.

For more information about sign2sing, contact Linda at SignHealth on 01494 687600.