Making Bedfordshire a place where deaf and hard of hearing people can access everything needed to live, work, study, and relax.
Services We Offer
Our Mission
Catherine Wright,
Founder and Chair of Trustees
When myself and some friends founded Access Bedford (as we were known then), back in 2014 it was because we realised there was a real problem for deaf families, like mine, who were unable to access services across Bedford. We found barriers at every level of our community and in every area of life - from accessing healthcare and voting to finding inclusive youth groups and social and cultural support. We knew, back then, that it would be a battle to change hearts and minds, but we wanted to make Bedfordshire a place where the deaf and hard of hearing community could live, work, learn and relax and feel included.
Here we are 10 years later and there have been some really significant improvements both locally and nationally - including the creation of the BSL Act in 2022 to support our rights to have equal access. However, as a Community we are still marginalised and battling many of the same barriers, with poor planning and communication from statutory bodies, retail, cultural, social and leisure providers across the region.
Since appointing dedicated staff to manage the charity and deliver services in 2022, we are starting to see a shift in Bedfordshire. We have been able to secure additional funding, which has meant we have been able to reach and support more people, as well as increase the number of partners we support to make their settings and resources more inclusive.
I am hopeful that in the next 10 years, Deaf Access Bedfordshire (as we're known now!) will no longer need to fight to ensure the 135,000 deaf people in our community can access basic services. We hope that we will be able to turn our focus towards education and skills development, teaching the hearing community to sign, supporting deaf children and their families to gain early access to language, and bringing the BSL GCSE to our local schools.
Find out how you can support us, here.