I am now halfway through my LiA project volunteering at the Newcastle Deaf Centre (NDC) of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society (SVP). My project consists of diverse responsibilities, providing me with informed insight into how the charity sector works, as I fulfil roles ranging from administration to outreach and social media.

So far, volunteering by providing admin support has involved attending webinars, taking minutes and other office-related tasks. Essentially, I am aiding my supervisors through taking on tasks that have been passed down to me, which has alleviated their workload, allowing them to consider other tasks. This office support is especially vital in a small team of only 2 permanent hard-working members of staff.

One of the most important admin tasks with which I have been tasked is helping to organise the centre’s annual report, which is crucial to demonstrate the hard work that is being done at the centre, which could also lead to other external benefits, such as funding opportunities and connections. 

As for events planning and preparation, I am very pleased to be reporting on the centre’s successful engagement with the TechNExt festival, which included attending the opening conference and the NDC’s own hosted event as part of the festival, demonstrating the centre’s deaf communities' engagement with technology. Preparations for this event have included preparing the centre as a venue for networking and presentations, creating sign-up sheets, and setting up activities for children who would be attending.

From the webinars, I gathered information for our team to apply to our organisation, and to create new connections and links, to increase the centre’s prominence and create new future opportunities. Key examples include social media training and a webinar from PACC (Physical Activity Clinical Champions), from which I fostered a connection between our team and a lead speaker on women in sports.

Outreach work has involved attending conferences, which has increased the prominence of the NDC and helped create new opportunities for the centre. An example I am particularly proud of is when attending a safeguarding in sports conference, I not only became more informed about the importance of safeguarding, but also gained a new connection for the centre, that being Beamish Golf Club. This connection is beginning to be exploited by the Centre, as is exemplified by a recent meeting which I had the privilege of attending between the Beamish Golf Club disability hub and senior team, and our NDC team. In this meeting, plans have been drawn out exploring what collaboration between our organisations would look like. As such, there are plans to organise for the centre’s deaf youth group (DCYG) golfing opportunities, which would also serve as a first step and trial to expanding this engagement and ultimately spreading this opportunity to the Deaf OAP group. This long-term prospect is precisely the sort of long-lasting impact which I want to leave behind from my LiA, as it exemplifies the different environment with which I was engaged, and the work taking place for the Deaf and hearing world to become more inclusive of one another.

Another example worth mentioning is my outreach visit to Broadwood School’s Deaf department, for a tea and coffee afternoon with deaf parents, and parents of deaf children, which is a key example of being immersed in a different environment and culture, especially because BSL is being used. The purpose of this outreach event was to promote the centre’s summer activities and promote the centre, which was done successfully, as is exemplified by the positive engagement from the parents.

Currently, the centre is preparing for its summer activities for its Family Hub and DCYG, and I am very pleased to be helping with its organisation and launch. The activities which I am helping organise and coordinate include trips to Northumberlandia (a human landform sculpture of a lady), hearing guide dogs for deaf people at the Deaf Centre, and BSL for families.

Beyond the centre’s mission in aiding the deaf community, the centre is also very active in helping underrepresented groups in the UK, a very noble and sensitive goal. Help offered includes financial help with vouchers and helping with purchasing buggies, furniture, white goods and more. 

Key stakeholders who have supported me on this rewarding experience include my manager and my colleagues. I have been in contact with my manager for a while before beginning my LiA and have had the opportunity to visit the centre and see the work it does with the DCYG. Such introductions were very important to familiarise myself with the people, the deaf community, and the work done. I realised that a LiA at the NDC is a perfect fit and was very happy to join a dedicated and hardworking team.

Concerning leadership learnings, from my LiA, I have learned how to be an effective and strong communicator, and a reliable team member who deals effectively with task delegations, while also being a leader thriving in networking environments.

The examples that I have mentioned thus far have had a positive impact, as they have helped spread the workload at the office and have created new opportunities. As for how this positive work will be sustained, I hope to be involved with the NDC beyond my LiA, continuing my volunteering in my third year, to create a strong link between NDC and Durham University. Potential plans include creating a student-led volunteering project at Durham University in support of the NDC, or utilising existing infrastructure, such as Durham’s SVP society (from Durham’s Catholic Society), to promote the NDC as a volunteering opportunity. Alongside this, I am also hoping to collaborate with St Chad’s College to hold an open day for the youth group. Beyond Durham, I hope to create a permanent link between the NDC and the Laidlaw organisation, establishing it as a permanent listed opportunity, so that students from abroad also gain access to it as a prospect for their LiA, and to potentially create new event opportunities for the centre as future scholars may bring in expertise around technology, programming and more.

The most interesting and surprising thing about my LiA placement is that, despite only travelling from Durham to Newcastle, I was still able to immerse myself in a new community and culture. This is what made my LiA so valuable to me: the possibility of supporting the NDC, whose mission is to sustain a space for the deaf community and their culture. A large aspect of my immersion was learning some BSL in my free time. Naturally, I am not very advanced in it, but out of respect, since I was gaining my LiA supporting the centre, I felt the need to learn a bit of BSL, which I had some opportunities to use.

I am enjoying my LiA at the NDC and am excited to be coming back next year. All in all, I will remember the kind and welcoming people I have met on my team and from the deaf community and will always remember to make some noise.